Nov. 6, 2004 - Truman men's cross country's bid for a fifth-straight appearance to the NCAA national meet came up short on Saturday as the Bulldogs finished eighth at the South Central regional race in Joplin, Mo.
As a team, the Bulldogs finished with 219 points, behind Abilene Christian (Tex.), Central Missouri and Missouri Southern. Those three schools all qualified as a team for nationals. The Bulldogs also trailed conference schools, Emporia State (Kan.) and Northwest Missouri in the final standings.
The top placer for the Bulldogs was junior Aaron Wells (pictured above) who finished ninth. Wells qualifies for the national meet as an individual with a time of 32:11.10 on the 10 kilometer course. The NCAA national meet will be run in Evansville, Ind. on Nov. 20th.
Jason Simpson was second on the team with a 20th-place finish and a time of 33:01.90. Other Bulldogs scoring at the meet were Laban Kipkurui in 60th (34:24), Steve Porath in 65th (34:32) and Eric Wittrock in 67th (34:41).
Rounding out the squad were Kurtis Werner in 74th (34:57) and Bryant England placing 90th (35:41).