by 
(Shawnee, Oklahoma) – Bacone College won the Sooner Athletic Conference men’s cross country championship denying three-time champion Oklahoma City University an opportunity for a fourth consecutive title. The eight-kilometer race was again held at the Gordon Cooper Technology Center in Shawnee, Okla.
Bacone’s Jackson Thomas (Navajo) and Binahnii Curley (Navajo) finished 1-2 in the 74-runner field. Thomas’s winning time in the eight-kilometer race was 24:45, 33 seconds ahead of his teammate Curley who turned in a time of 25:18. The title was the Warriors first-ever SAC conference championship since joining the league in 2015 finishing with 42 points just ahead of Oklahoma City’s 44.
OCU had the 3-4 finishers with Max McNeil clocking a 25:25 and Michael Roguski with a 25:39.
Wayland Baptist finished third with 65 points, John Brown was fourth with 121. The remainder of the field was Southwestern Assemblies of God in fifth with 142, Texas Wesleyan in sixth at 147, St. Gregory’s in seventh at 169, and Science & Arts in eighth with 237 points.
The top 15 individual finishers were certified as all-conference. Complete Results
1. Jackson Thomas, Bacone 24:45.67
2. Binahnni Curley, Bacone 25:18.90
3. Max McNeill, Oklahoma City 25:25.29
4. Michal Roguski, Oklahoma City 25:29.82
5. Eric Villagrana, Wayland Baptist 25:31.18
6. Ma Wahpepah-Harris, Oklahoma City 25:40.54
7. Raul Almaraz, Wayland Baptist 25:49.60
8. Eduardo Roa, Bacone 25:55.16
9. Shawvan Levi, Bacone 26:05.18
10. Josh Uzelac, John Brown 26:08.16
11. Gerardo Nava, SAGU 26:11.78
12. Jason Wayland Baptist 26:13.86
13. Robert Torres, St. Gregory’s 26:24.16
14. Alan Ramirez, Alan Texas Wesleyan 26:27.82
15 Oaklin Davis, Oklahoma City 26:29.52
Atemded Bacone, boxing team letter, attendance interrupted by Korean war, still a soft spot in my heart for being a pivotal peg in my life.
Dr. James L. Lee, DDS (ret)
Chehalis, Washington