Missouri State cross country runner Pasca Cheruiyot obliterated the school record today at the State Farm MVC Cross Country Championship.  Cheruiyot ran a time of 16:57.81, breaking the previous school record of 17:23.67 set by Kristin Wolkey in 2006.  In addition, Cheruiyot took the individual title, winning the race by nearly 55 seconds over Wichita State’s Kellyn Johnson.  Cheruiyot said, “I couldn’t believe it,” when she came to the finish line and saw her time was going to come in under 17 minutes.

Pasca also set the course record at the Missouri State Cross Country Facility, which she previous held from her Missouri State Classic winning time of 17:46.90.  Today, Cheruiyot and her teammates wore black ribbons in honor of Pasca’s late mother.  “I know she was running with me today,” said Cheruiyot referring to her mother.

Despite Cheruiyot’s spectacular day on the course, the Bears as a team finished second to rival Wichita State.  “Today, we did our best, unfortunately it was not good enough to win,” said Missouri State Head Coach Greg Hipp. 

Wichita State placed Kellyn Johnson and Irene Kosgei, second and third, respectively, pacing the Shockers to their fourth straight conference title.  Johnson said her second-place finish was “bittersweet, but the team won and that’s what matters.”

Missouri State senior Jamie Vest finished fourth as she ran her final race at the Missouri State Cross Country Facility.  Vest had a goal of finishing in the top-five and said, “I was really happy with my finish today.”

Terry Phillips also finished in the top-10 for the Bears as she came in seventh, running her personal best time of 18:00.04.  Rounding out the five runners tallied in the team results were Nancy Nieto in 29th and Staci Nelson in 30th, both running personal best times of 19:03.57 and 19:03.91, respectively.  Other Missouri State finishers were Andrea Marshall in 31st, Stephanie Harres in 38th, and Mari-Jean Vance in 58th.

Missouri State’s Cheruiyot, Vest, and Phillips all received All-MVC honors.  Other All-Conference runners on the women’s side were Wichita State’s Kellyn Johnson and Irene Kosgei, UNI’s Caedryn Schrunk and Danielle Nowasell, Indiana State’s Heather Stembridge, Drake’s Nicole Braunsdorf, and Illinois State’s Michelle Brunk.

On the men’s side, Southern Illinois took the team title, inching out Indiana State by three points.  Junior Jeff Shirmer ran a course record time of 24:33.51 winning the individual title and giving the Salukis the team title.  Shirmer said of his new course record, “With regionals here next year, it should give me confidence.”

Southern Illinois placed four runners in the top-nine with Shirmer’s victory, Dan Dunbar taking fifth, Jason Ordway taking eighth and Kyle Kirchner placing ninth.  Indiana State fell just shy of the Salukis, despite placing three in the top six with Scott Keeney taking third, Michael Disher taking fourth and Eric Schulz placing sixth.

SIU’s Shirmer, Dunbar, Ordway and Kirchner and Indiana State’s Keeney, Disher and Schulz garnered All-MVC honors.  The remaining All-Conference runners were Illinois State’s Matt Mroczynski and Scott Krapf and Wichita State’s Scott Reed.

The Missouri State cross country team now moves on to the NCAA Midwest regionals in Stillwater, Okla., for an 11:00 a.m. race on November 15, 2008.