Wayland's cross country teams finally got back on the course this weekend running at the 2009 Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater, Okla. Twenty-eight teams participated in the men's college division and Coach Brian Whitlock's squad finished fifth with 196 points.

"I thought we might do a little bit better, but Kirby Dunn, one of our top runners had some breathing problems and wasn't able to run.  Still we finished ahead of some quality schools like Southwestern College which was ranked 25th in this week's NAIA poll.

"Our two sophomores, Michael Sandoval and Lucius Lopez, did a great job.  Timmy McCune ran better than he has in over a year, and the guys on the back end like Victor Lemay and John Keith also ran well."

Freshman Hildon Boen was the first Pioneer to cross the finish line, in 14th place, with a time of 25:58.80.  "We're going to have to work with Hildon a little bit more.  He just gets too excited and starts out too fast."

Sandoval finished in 23rd place with a time of 26:23.60, while Lopez ran a 26:44.50 to place 37th, and McCune came in 59th in 27:07.40.  Lemay rounded out the top five with a time of 27:43.10.

Keith (27:54.30) and freshman Jarrod Morris (27:59.30) were the other WBU representatives.

The Pioneer women continue to run short-handed due to injury, but Whitlock was very pleased with the times turned in by his three runners.  "It is a real good sign for the future when we have two freshman break the 20 minute mark on that course."

Freshman Catherine Luebner was 20th with a time of 19:45.70, senior Diana Gutierrez was 22nd in 19:46.70, and Milca Villegas, another freshman, ran a 19;55.10 to finish 31st.