FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. –- It was a nice homecoming for Brian Shrader and a stellar start to the 2012 cross country season for the Northern Arizona University men’s team, as both dominated the field at the 32nd annual George Kyte Classic Saturday from Buffalo Park.
After taking five of the first seven spots for 20 points and the team
win, the NAU men claimed their fifth title at the meet in six years and
their most decisive victory since the 2004 squad swept the top five
places.
"All these guys looked really good and under control, and they ran well as a team," coach Eric Heins said after the meet. "Everyone executed the race strategy perfectly, and it was awesome to watch Brian not only win the race but win it handily. It was an impressive race how he was under control with the group and then was able to finish strong like he did."
Shrader, a 2010 graduate of Sinagua High School who recently transferred to NAU from Oregon, was the wire-to-wire leader in the 8,000-meter race, finishing 20 seconds ahead of Southern Utah’s Nate Jewkes. His individual win was the first for NAU since Diego Estrada won the meet in 2009.
“I went out at the beginning with Tim (Freriks) and Matt (McElroy), and we set a good tempo at first, then I just let loose a little bit more at the end,” said Shrader, who ran the race’s last mile in a blistering 4:26. "To have all my family and friends out here today was really uplifting, and no matter how I was feeling, I thought I would race well just from all the support."
Finishing behind Shrader for the Lumberjacks was redshirt freshman Alejandro Montano in third (25:29.6), junior Matt McElroy in fourth (25:33.6), sophomore Caleb Hoover in fifth (25:34.2) and sophomore Chris Ganem in seventh (25:40.9).
Sophomore Cody Reed (10th in 25:51.6) and senior Roman Acosta (12th in 25:53.0) rounded out NAU’s top seven.
In the women’s 5K race, the Lumberjacks placed fourth, led by sophomores Kylee Kieser (18:03.4) and Lauren Justus (18:23.0) in 15th and 17th, respectively. Sophomores Sarah Baker (21st in 18:39.8) and Kerri Lenihan (25th in 18:53.0), and redshirt freshman Kayla Freeman (30th in 19:14.8) gave the squad a team score of 99 points.
"We didn’t have a lot of our top girls running in uniform this weekend, so it was an opportunity for our 5-6-7 girls to step up and be the No. 1 runner for this meet," Heins said, referring to returners Rochelle Kanuho, Caroline Hogardh, and Agnes Laurent, whose 2012 debut will be Sept. 21 at the UCLA Invitational. "This was a great test for those girls who led the team today, and that experience should benefit them in the future."
