Who is Sam Chelanga? : Speakers & Interviews

In a neck-and-neck 2007 NCAA Division I National Cross Country Championship 10K race, Liberty senior Josh McDougal kicked it up a notch in the final stretch to knock out Oregon’s Galen Rupp and claim…
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In a neck-and-neck 2007 NCAA Division I National Cross Country Championship 10K race, Liberty senior Josh McDougal kicked it up a notch in the final stretch to knock out Oregon’s Galen Rupp and claim…
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In a neck-and-neck 2007 NCAA Division I National Cross Country Championship 10K race, Liberty senior Josh McDougal kicked it up a notch in the final stretch to knock out Oregon’s Galen Rupp and claim his first national title with a time of 29:22.4. Collapsing at the finish line in more pain than excitement, McDougal captured the moment of his first-ever national title in his bittersweet, fourth-try victory.

McDougal captured five All-American awards in 2006 alone, boosting his collection to tally 11. He is a Big South favorite, being the second athlete to win back-to-back Big South Howard Bagwell Male Student Athlete of the Year awards. He was also named Big South Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Year, Big South Men’s Track and Field Athlete of the Year, Big South Men’s Indoor Track Performer of the Year, and 10-time Big South Male Athlete of the Week.

McDougal placed 27th at the NCAA National Cross Country Championships in 2006; won the IC4A indoor 5K crown in 13:37.32 (setting the best indoor 5K time in the world on a regulation track); placed third in the 5K and fourth in the 10K at the NCAA National Outdoor Track and Field Championships on consecutive nights; and became the first athlete in the 131-year history of the IC4A Championships to accomplish the distance triple at the same meet.

The native New Yorker and kinesiology major boasts an all-time best 8K run of 23:12 and 10K run of 29:32.