UNK Cross Country: Lopers Run at National Cross Country Meet

Fruit Just Misses All-American Honor ; RMAC Dominates 

Kearney, Neb. – Nebraska-Kearney’s Tanner Fruit (48th) and Al Sanabria (86th) placed in the top 90 at the 2010 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships Saturday afternoon in Louisville, Ky.

The meet was part of the Division II Sports Festival, hosted by Bellarmine U. and the Louisville Sports Commission. The meet was held at the E.P. “Tom” Sawyer Park.

In his second straight NCAA meet, Fruit (Ogallala) ran the 10k course in 31:51.2. Not 100 percent healthy, he missed All-American honors by just eight places or 12 seconds.  Sanabria (Minden), in the big meet for the first time, ran a 32:30.3. The field consisted of 182 runners with Michael Crouch of Queens U. (N.C.) winning the national title in a time of 30:43.2.

Not surprisingly, the RMAC dominated the team race as Adams State (57) won the national title with rival Western State runner up (102) and Colorado School of Mines placing fourth (161). Grand Valley State, a D2 powerhouse in all sports, finished third (135).

Also from the Central Region, Augustana was sixth (232) and Metro State finished 17th (443). UNK came into the weekend ranked 22nd nationally.