Men's C-USA Championship Results
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Oct. 29, 2005

Lake Buena Vista, Fla. -- UTEP won the men's team competition at the of Conference USA 2005 Cross Country Championships on Saturday, with the race hosted by UCF at the DISNEY WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS® Complex. UTEP freshman Patrick Mutai won the men's 8K individual race in a time of 23:35.26, followed by Marcel Hewamudalige just two seconds later.

The 10th-ranked Miners were led by Mutai, a three-time C-USA Athlete of the Week honoree during the season, as he broke the 8K course record at the complex with a winning time of 23:35.26. Mutai led a pack of five UTEP runners, who all finished in the Top 10 to break the C-USA men's scoring mark with 23 points.

Kristian Jorgensen (26:00.26) led the way for the Pirates with a 25th place finish, marking his season-best time in an 8k event. Teammates Chris Belfiore (26:09.70) and Will Collins (26:16.31) followed their senior leader across the stripe to round out the top thirty.

Mutai was joined on the All-Conference USA first team by three teammates and second-place finisher Marcel Hewamudalige of Rice (23:37.27). Japheth Ng'ojoy (23:41.08), Stephen Samoei (23:42.90) and Mircea Bogdon (24:23.18) finished third through fifth for the Miners. Rice took second in the men's team standings with 54 points. Tulsa was a close third with 58 points.

Mutai earned the distinguished honor of being named C-USA Male Freshman-of-the-Year, for being the top rookie finisher in the field.

The victorious coach, UTEP's Paul Ereng, was named the 2005 C-USA Male Coach-of-the-Year, in a vote taken by the league coaches following the race.

East Carolina will host the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships on November 12th at the Overton's Lake Kristi course. Lake Kristi, the site of each NCAA Southeast Regional Championships dating back to the 2002 season, serves as the home course for ECU cross country.

Top East Carolina Finishers
Kristian Jorgensen (26:00.26)
Chris Belfiore (26:09.70)
Will Collins (26:16.31)
Stephen Tausend (26:55.86)
Drew Jenkins (27:46.79)
Michael Cosolito (28:20.68)
Michael Scott (28:57.15)

2005 Men's 8K Results: 1. UTEP (23), 2. Rice (54), 3. Tulsa (58), 4. UCF (115), 5. Houston (142), 6. Marshall (151), 7. East Carolina (163), 8. Memphis (252).

MEN'S AWARDS

Individual Champion: Patrick Mutai (UTEP).

First Team All-Conference: Patrick Mutai (UTEP), Marcel Hewamudalige (Rice), Japheth, Ng'ojoy (UTEP), Stephen Samoei (UTEP), Mircea Bogdan (UTEP)

Second Team All-Conference: Sesar Figueroa (Houston), Charles Hampton (Rice), Brett Turowski (Tulsa), Edwin Henshaw (Tulsa), Joe Munoz (UTEP).

Third Team All-Conference: Joel Stansloski (Tulsa), David Axel (Rice), Chris Mullaney (UCF), Andrew Beard (Tulsa), Colby Keithan (Rice).

Freshman of the Year: Patrick Mutai (UTEP)

Coach of the Year: Paul Ereng (UTEP).