Mustangs debut at national meet

VANCOUVER, Wash. -- The Mount Mercy men's cross country team finished 31st in their national meet debut, and junior Kara Danielsen finished in the top half of the field at Saturday's NAIA Cross Country National Championships at the Vancouver Historical Site.

The Mustang men, who earned their first national meet berth by winning the Midwest Collegiate Conference title on Nov. 6, placed 31st out of 32 teams with 924 points. Southern Oregon was the national champion with 105 points, followed by Wayland Baptist (Texas) with 124 points and Malone (Ohio) with 251.

Junior Mike Miroux, no stranger to the national meet, placed 150th out of 326 racers with a time of 27:37 in the men's 8K. It was the third straight national meet for Miroux, who was 255th at last year's event in Vancouver. Three more Mustangs were in the top 200, including freshman Mitch Johnson (181st/28:10), senior Matt Clarke (193rd/28:30), and freshman Gary Bannister (196th/28:36).

Rounding out the Mount Mercy roster were freshman TJ Mosbach (204th/29:03), senior Jayson Lawton (214th/30:21), and freshman Grant Wakefield (217th/30:43). Kennedy Kithuka of Wayland Baptist won the race in 24:02, 39 seconds faster than Abednego Magut of Azusa Pacific (Calif.).

Danielsen ran her best race of the year for the Mount Mercy women, finishing 160th out of 331 runners with a time of 19:46 in the 5K. She was 167th at the 2009 national meet in 21:10, helping the Mustangs to a 28th-place finish in Vancouver. Justyna Mudy of Shorter (Ga.) repeated as individual champion this fall, crossing the finish line in 17:42. Obsie Birru of MCC rival Grand View was third in the nation with a time of 17:51.