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Season Preview for Cross Country

Big things expected from Tiger runners

Despite losing its top-two runners from a year ago in Daniel Maina and Stanley Mugo, the Cowley College men’s cross country team may be stronger than a year ago.

Sounds like a bold statement when you consider the Tigers won their second straight Jayhawk East title and captured its first ever Region VI championship during the 2007 season. Not to mention, the Tigers brought home a top-five finish at the NJCAA National Championships.

Vince DeGrado, who begins his second season with the program and first as head coach, has set the bar high for this year’s squad.

“You have to have your three through seven runners in the back run well in order to win championships,” DeGrado said. “That is something we have this year.”

Returning for the Tigers are sophomores Johnny Purvis, Justin Cacaro, Rolando Vasquez, and Harrison Philp.

“We have a great sophomore class that is individually motivated,” DeGrado said.
Purvis earned Coaches Association All-American honors as a freshman and returns to Cowley with high expectations.

"Johnny will once again be our top American runner,” DeGrado said.

Cacaro also ran well as a freshman and gained experience running at the national championships. While, Jonathan Cherono, who was an NJCAA All-American in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, joins the squad after a solid freshman campaign with the track team.

Nate Newland, who did not run cross country as a freshman but had a strong track season, also joins the squad.

“Nate will be a big “X” factor for us,” DeGrado said.

The Tigers have added a pair of state champions to their roster in Isabek Salinas and Dustin Mettler. Salinas was the cross country state champion at Madill High School in Oklahoma.

“Madill is a school known for having good runners and hard workers,” DeGrado said. “It was huge for us to get him to come here.”

Mettler was the track state champion in the 800, 1,600, and 3,200-meter runs at Duncan High School in Oklahoma.

“He will make a run for one of those top-five spots, it will be very competitive,” DeGrado said.

Brice Irving, who redshirted last season due to injury, had a stellar high school career as he was the state champion in the mile run while at Skiatook (Okla.) High School.

“We have four American sophomores returning combined with a deep freshman class,” DeGrado said. “We are a deeper team, which is what we need to be.

"Cianan Kutil from Salisaw, Okla., finished as the state runner-up during last year’s cross country season.

“He has a great work ethic and a huge upside,” DeGrado said.

Other newcomers to the squad are, David Phillips from Ardmore, Okla., T.J. Mapp from Madill, Okla., Phillip Banowetz from Edna, and Justin Ross from Burden.

“We have a great class of freshmen runners,” DeGrado said.

With a strong mix of newcomers and returning athletes, DeGrado believes this year’s team has a chance to be special.

“We want to defend our conference and region championships,” DeGrado said. “If we get a couple of international runners we are after then I feel we can compete for a national championship. Even without the international runners, I think we can still be a top-five team. If you are not going to dream big, how are you going to accomplish it.”