Winfield, Kan.---The Men's Cross Country team from Wayland Baptist out-ran all the NAIA competition in the field at the NAIA Mid-States Classic hosted by Southwestern College on Saturday morning. The 25th-ranked Pioneers finished the meet in second place with 126 points, just one point in back of Colorado College, a NCAA D-II school. Sooner Athletic Conference rivals Oklahoma Baptist, ranked 15th in the latest NAIA Coaches poll, was third with 127 points, and #20 Oklahoma Christian was fourth with 129.

"Our guys ran really, really well," said Coach Brian Whitlock, who is in his sixth season as head of the WBU cross country programs. "We beat four schools that were ranked higher than us in the last poll, and came within one point of winning our first-ever meet."

Hildon Boen was the first Pioneer to cross the finish line. The freshman from Kenya ran the 8K course in 25:22 to finish in third place. Senior Timmy McCune was next with a time of 26:22 to come in 23rd.

"Hildon ran a smart race again, and Timmy is finally getting back to the form he was in two years ago. They both had great races."

Sophomore Lucious Lopez ran a personal best of 26:25 in the race to finish 26th. Kirby Dunn, a senior, and sophomore Michael Sandoval were next across for Wayland. Dunn finished 33rd with a time of 26:33, while Sandoval ran a 26:46 to finish 41st.

"Kirby and Michael ran good but are capable of more. They have both been struggling with injuries, though. With the conference meet coming up in a couple of weeks, if we can get those two healthy, then I really like our chances of winning conference."

Jarrod Morris (61st - 27:26), Victor Lemay (77nd - 27:57) and John Keith (116th - 28:48) also ran for the Pioneer men.

Only two women were healthy enough to run for WBU in Kansas, but both of his freshmen did an outstanding job, according to Whitlock.

"Those two girls are the best freshmen from Texas that we've ever had here. Milca (Villegas) finished in sixth place with a 19:02 and Catherine (Leubner) ran a 19:09 to finish 8th. They ran an outstanding race, beating every runner there from our conference but one. I think that they both have a good shot as individual qualifiers for nationals."

The SAC Cross Country Championships are scheduled for Friday, Nov. 6 in Lubbock. The winners automatically qualify for the NAIA Cross Country Championships to be held Nov. 21 in Vancouver, Wash.