Louisville, KY -- Virginia Intermont's men's cross country team lived up to their #1 ranking by decisively winning this weekend's NAIA National Cross Country Championship title in Louisville, KY. On a rain soaked course, compare by host Greater Louisville Sports Commission to the muddy horse track Smarty Jones won on, Intermont posted a low score of 54 points to outdistance runner-up Aquinas College's score of 175 by an impressive 121 points, the largest winning margin in eighteen years. Lindenwood College took third with 213 points and Simon Fraser was fourth with 215 points.
Intermont took an impressive five All-American awards with five runners in the top 25. VIC was led by the third place finish of senior Fernando Cabada, the top American finisher in the race, and followed closely by senior teammate Corey Duquette in seventh place. The Cobras' pack of James Mousseau, Ondrej Puskar and David Cheromei finished 18th, 21st and 23rd, respectively, to finish off team scoring.
"We ran with pride and integrity today," said coach Scott Simmons. "We were well prepared and kept an even focus despite the high ranking and pressure. I am very proud of everything our guys have accomplished this year and their performance reflects more personal growth, maturity and development than is evident by an athletic contest. This win speaks to character and commitment."
Almost to a man, Intermont's team enjoyed personal best times on the muddy 8,000-meter (4.9 mile) course with Cabada's 24:28.85 and Duquette's 24:51.10 making the course's top 15 list. Mousseau, a junior, finished with a time of 25:24, while freshmen Puskar and Cheromei had marks of 25:28 and 25:29, respectively. VIC's sophomore Nick Glimsdahl was just out of the top 30 All-American ranks in 37th with a 25:51, while freshman Mudasar Haidat was 58th at 26:10 in the 259-runner field. Glimsdahl displayed VI's depth by finishing ahead of runner-up Aquinas' entire squad.
Coach Scott Simmons was awarded the National Coach of the Year trophy for the third year in a row as he led Minot State (Nd.) to back-to-back titles in 2002 and 2003 before coming to Virginia Intermont this summer.
VIC is not quite finished with the season, as it will send its American runners to the USA National Championships in Portland, OR on December 04 and the US World Cross Country Trials in February 2005.