Tulane’s Emmanuel Rotich crowned Champion at NCAA South Central Cross Country Regional

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Senior Emmanuel Rotich repeated as champion at the 2017 NCAA Cross Country South Regional Championship Friday morning, claiming first place in men’s 10k with a time of 29:49.1 to qualify for next weekend’s NCAA National Championships and lead the Green Wave men to a 13th place finish.

Rotich maintained a pace of 4:47 per mile, setting a new personal best in the 10k, and defeated Houston’s Brian Barraza by two seconds to win the title. Last season at the regional championships, Rotich won the event with a time of 29:58.9, qualifying for the national championships in the process, and led Tulane’s men’s team to an 11th place finish.

With the win, Rotich has won five consecutive meets, dating back to the Temple Invitational, Sept. 1 in Philadelphia. The win also marks the second consecutive meet in which he has finished ahead of Barraza, his American Athletic Conference foe. Two weekends ago, Rotich took first place in the men’s 8k race at The American Championships in Philadelphia, finishing in 24:58.6, nearly eight seconds ahead of Barraza.

Senior Moses Aloiloi finished 47th (31:33.0) and junior Joshua Cheruyot finished 78th (32:08.6) to round out the top-100 finishers for Tulane. Senior Stephen Medlin, sophomore Carlos Zervigon, freshman Andrew Kipkemboi and junior Pierce Hill finished 110th, 116th, 132nd and 153rd, respectively, to earn the men’s team its 13th place finish.

On the women’s side, senior Lauren Bartels recorded a 22nd place finish with a time of 20:35.8, setting a new personal record in the process, while guiding the women’s team to an eighth place finish. Bartels’ time surpasses her previous top 6k time of 21:30.3, which she set at the 2015 NCAA South Central Regional.

Bartels also received All-Region honors by finishing among the top 25 runners, while senior Emma Newton, redshirt sophomore McKenzie Melius and freshman Bridgid Selfors finished 22nd (20:35.8), 34th(20:58.5), 64th (21:39.0) and 71st (21:43.9), respectively.

Rotich will compete at the NCAA Championship in Louisville, Ky. next Saturday, Nov. 18. The men’s race is set to begin at 10:45 a.m.

Fans can follow along for live results, updates and news on Twitter (@GreenWaveXCTF) or find the team on Facebook. Follow Tulane Athletics on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and @TulaneAthletics on Snapchat.