Jayhawks place 20th at NCAAs
By J-W Staff Reports
Terre Haute, Ind — Kansas University juniors Colby Wissel and Paul Hefferon earned All-America status for their performances at the 2006 NCAA Cross Country Championships on Monday.
Wissel placed 26th and Hefferon 42nd for the Jayhawks, who had hoped for a top-10 finish, but notched 20th overall.
Wissel, the 2006 Big 12 champion, finished the 10K run in a time of 31:34.3; Hefferon 31:47.7.
Seniors Erik Sloan and Matt French placed 164th (33:12.1) and 188th (33:35.6) respectively. Junior Patrick McGowan placed 250th in 34:20. Seniors Benson Chesang and Tyler Kelly did not finish the race.
"Overall, I thought everyone ran to their potential," coach Stanley Redwine said. "I am extremely proud of Colby and Paul for their performances, and I also thought Patrick ran a very good race as well. In the end, I am somewhat disappointed with where we finished as a team, but I think our seniors had a good season and a great career at Kansas."
Colorado won the men's team title while BYU's Josh Rohatinsky won the individual title in 30:44.9. Texas Tech's Sally Kipyego won the women's individual crown in a time of 20:11.1, and Stanford took home the team title.
The event marks the end of Chesang, Sloan, French and Kelly's careers. The class leaves behind an accomplished career that saw Chesang capture two individual Big 12 championships (2004 and 2005). Sloan earned all-region honors in 2005 and 2006.
KU men take second at regionals, qualify for NCAA Championships
Hair today, race tomorrow
KU's Wissel wins Big 12 cross country title