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Wichita State’s Aliphine Tuliamuk-Bolton won her second straight Missouri Valley Conference women’s cross country title on Saturday, the first Shocker to win the event twice.
Tuliamuk-Bolton’s championship wasn’t enough to help the Shockers win the team title, however. Illinois State’s balance carried the Redbirds to their second straight MVC title after they snapped WSU’s streak at six in 2011.
Tuliamuk-Bolton set a course record in the 6-kilometer race with a time of 16 minutes, 58.35 seconds in Normal, Ill. She is the first to win back-to-back MVC titles since Bradley’s Mary Ellen Hill in 1998 and 1999.
WSU’s men finished third, the best finish since third in 2003. Sophomore Sterling Spencer led the Shockers with a 15th-place finish and a time of 25:06 in the 8-kilometer race. Jake Wike (25:08) finished 16th and Tomas Cotter (25:11) in 18th.
Southern Illinois won the men’s team title with 34 points, ahead of defending champion Indiana State’s 40 and WSU’s 96. Indiana State’s John Mascari won the men’s race with a time of 24:21.
Illinois State’s women out-pointed WSU 42-83 by placing four runners in the top eight, including second-place Rachael Brewer (17:31). WSU’s Kaityln McLeod placed 12th (18:03), followed by Samantha Shukla (18:13) in 20th and Elida Bailon (18:16) in 23rd.
