CARY, N.C. — The Norfolk State men\'s cross country team extended its own record of consecutive Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference cross country championships to six with a dominating win on Saturday afternoon at SAS Soccer Park. The Spartans women came in second place.
The NSU men, who set a new MEAC record by winning their fifth straight title a year ago, tallied a meet record-low 20 points. Each of the Spartans\' top six runners ran a personal-best time on Saturday, led by men\'s Most Outstanding Performer David Kemboi (Eldoret, Kenya). He finished the 8,000-meter course in 23 minutes, 30 seconds to begin a 1-2-4-5-8 finish for the NSU men.
Freshman Hillary Cheruiyot (Purnt-Forrest, Kenya) took second place in 23:40, while fellow freshman Dominic Luka (Marietta, N.Y.) and senior Cleophus Koros (Kapsabet, Kenya) were fourth and fifth, respectively. Luka ran 24:11, while Koros finished in 24:34 to earn his third straight All-MEAC honor.
Junior Francis Kirong (Kapsabet, Kenya) rounded out NSU\'s top five by running 25:11 to come in eighth. Though he did not factor into the team score, first-year cross-country runner Keenan Harris (Norfolk, Va.) also earned All-MEAC honors by finishing in the top 15. He was 12th in a personal-best 25:44.
\"The team met my expectations and then some,\" said Kenneth Giles, who was named the MEAC Men\'s Outstanding Coach. \"We never take winning the conference for granted. But I feel that this is a team that is built to compete with the best in the region.\"
The Spartans, who have been ranked as high as fourth in the Southeast Region this fall by the United States Cross Country Coaches Association, will run at the regional meet in Greenville, N.C., on Nov. 12.
The NSU women improved on their fifth-place finish at last year\'s conference championship with their runner-up finish on Saturday. NSU had 78 points, second only to Howard\'s 58. The Lady Bison won their seventh MEAC women\'s cross country title.
The Spartan women were paced by junior Fabiana Perlingeiro (Praia Do Canto, Brazil), who finished the 5,000-meter course in 18:40 to take third place overall. Senior Denisha Hudson (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) was eighth in 19:16 to earn her fourth consecutive All-MEAC designation, while freshman Melissa Ifie (Roanoke, Va.) was ninth in 19:19 to also earn All-MEAC honors.
Rounding out NSU\'s top five were Gladys Thompson (Norfolk, Va.) in 28th and LaKeasha Dudley (Virginia Beach, Va.) in 30th.