Special to The Eagle
Special to The Eagle
WACO -- Texas A&M transfer Shadrack Songok won his third straight South Central Region individual title and helped the 22nd-ranked Aggie men's cross country team end Arkansas' 18-year winning streak in the event Saturday at Cottonwood Creek Golf Course.
A&M scored 39 points to Arkansas' 44. Both teams advanced to the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., on Nov. 24. It is A&M's first berth in five years.
"It's a pretty significant victory for our team," A&M cross country coach Dan Waters said. "I've been watching this region for 15-odd years and I've never seen someone come close to beating Arkansas. They've had a stranglehold on this region, and they are still a fantastic team. To run with them and just edge them out for the team championship is a special day for us."
On the women's side, A&M's Christina Munoz played third overall and earned her second straight individual berth to the NCAA Championships. A&M's women finished sixth with 186 points. Arkansas won with 51, while Baylor and Rice tied for second at 61. Rice won the tiebreaker to earn the team berth to the national meet.
Songok, who won the previous two South Central Regionals competing for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, finished the 10,000-meter course in 29 minutes, 52.1 seconds. He beat Lamar's Samuel Kosgei by three seconds and Arkansas's Scott MacPherson by 15.
But for Songok, his individual title didn't mean as much as the team berth to the NCAAs.
"It's incredible. I've been dreaming of going to nationals with a team," Songok said. "Today the guys showed what they are capable of and we needed that kind of effort to win the team title over Arkansas. We're so excited that we are going to nationals."
A&M's Kevin McNab finished sixth in 30:43.7, followed by Kevin Ondrasek in ninth (31:02.1), Joe Sauvageau in 12th (31:18.0) and Mitch Bible in 15th (31:19.0).
Four of A&M's top five runners crossed the line ahead of a Razorback.
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