Chelanga wins NCAA

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Sam Chelanga Claims 2009 National Cross Country Title

Smashing the LaVern Gibson 10K course record by 22 seconds, Liberty's Sam Chelanga was crowned the NCAA Division I Men's Cross Country Champion, Monday afternoon, in Terre Haute, Ind. He crossed the finish line in 28:41.3, 25 seconds ahead of second-place finisher David McNeill of Northern Arizona. Stanford's Chris Derrick, who defeated Chelanga at the Pre-Nationals and was favored to take the national title, finished third.

After running an 8:40 3K split, Chelanga rushed to an early lead, breaking away from the pack to create a 28-second gap at the 5K mark with a time of 14:09. He was not contested for the remainder of the race.

He set new Liberty and Big South records at the 8K split with a time of 22:46.6. The previous 8K record was 22:51, a time he set at the 2008 Pre-Nationals.

No one has run the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championship faster than Chelanga since 1979, when Washington State's Henry Rono finished the race in 28:19.6.

Chelanga, who was recently named this year's USTFCCCA Southeast Regional Cross Country Athlete of the Year, finished second behind Oregon's Galen Rupp in the 2008 national meet. The redshirt junior from Nairobi, Kenya, won every race he entered this season with the exception of the NCAA Pre-Nationals on Oct. 17. In that 8K event, he led most of the way before being outrun by Derrick on the final straightaway. Chelanga finished second with a time of 23:34.6 that day, seven seconds behind Derrick.

Article found at: http://www.bigsouthsports.com/ViewArtic ... =204839034