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OBU—Oklahoma Baptist University

Bison Capture Region Crown

Article Date

November 5, 2005

Oklahoma Baptist put it all together Saturday and cruised to the NAIA Region VI and Sooner Athletic Conference championship in Shawnee.

The Bison won the regional with 31 points and cruised past runner-up Wayland Baptist by 27 points. The OBU women, however, finished third and ended its seven-year reign atop the region and conference.

The Lady Bison will have representation in the national meet with Bekah Brock earning an individual berth.

OBU's men were led by Daniel Ellis in third place at 25:20, followed by Landon Willets in fourth at 25:33, Theron Stoltzfus in sixth at 25:51, Lance Goodwin in seventh at 25:56 and Michael Elizondo in 11th at 26:26. Also for OBU, Ricardo Diaz was 14th at 26:43 and Jacob Wright was 18th at 26:50.

Ellis, Willets, Stoltzfus and Goodwin were All-Region and All-SAC. Ellis was second in the SAC, Willets was third, Stoltzfus was fifth, Goodwin sixth and Elizondo ninth. Elizondo also was All-Conference with Diaz (12th) and Wright (15th) recognized as honorable mention All-SAC.

OBU assistant coach Zach Johnson was named SAC and Region VI Men's Coach of the Year.

"The guys did a really nice job today," said OBU coach Ford Mastin. "These guys stayed together all year long."

Wayland Baptist's Vincent Tanui won the region and SAC individual titles in 24:34.

In the region standings, Wayland Baptist was second with 58 points, followed by Oklahoma Christian at 62, Southwest 106, Texas A&M International 164, Northwood 165, Texas-Permian Basin 204, Southern Nazarene 206 and St. Gregory's 209.

Oklahoma Christian is the new women's SAC and region champion with 54 points, followed by Northwood at 56, OBU at 66, Southwest 96, SNU 122, TAMI 149, Wayland Baptist 149, UTPB 231, St. Gregory's 237 and Huston-Tillotson 287.

Brock led OBU in eighth place at 18:55, followed by Willets in 10th at 19:10, Bean in 11th at 19:14; Chandra Huckabay in 17th at 19:37 and Katy Rader in 20th at 19:49. Also for OBU Mallory Cowden was 28th at 20:44 and Sarah Hale was 29th at 20:45.

Brock and Willets were All-Region and All-Conference with Brock in fourth and Willets in sixth in the SAC. Also making All-Conference for OBU were Bean in seventh and Huckabay in 10th. Rader was honorable mention All-SAC in 11th place.

The Bison and Brock will run at the national meet in Louisville, Ky., Nov. 19.