Clayton State men’s cross country finishes at 3rd GSU Invitational Saturday
Hampton, GA – For the second week in a row, Clayton State freshman Job Kemboi had an impressive performance for the Laker men's cross country team, this time finishing 3rd in the GSU Invitational held at Nash Farm Battlefield in Hampton, GA.
Kemboi, who placed fifth last week in his first-ever Clayton State race at the Sewanne/Berry Invitational, challenged for his first win on Saturday. The Kenyan native ran right on the heels of Georgia State's Austin Boetje for most of the race before fading late. Kemboi finished with a time of 20:15 in the 6K run, 18 seconds behind Boetje's winning time.
"Job had another terrific race as he battled with the eventual winner most of the way until he got passed for second in the final 100m," said head coach Mike Mead.
Georgia State won the meet with 40 points and only two points ahead of Emory. Clayton State finished with 49 points, followed by SCAD with 97.
"Man, did our guys battle today," said Mead. Only nine points separated the Top 3 teams, unfortunately we came up on the bottom of that pile. Our guys impressed me. While we lack depth, we do not lack heart.
Behind Kemboi, junior Ayrton Azcue placed 7th with a time of 20:41 just a step ahead of junior Charles Anderson with a time of 20:42. Junior Ciaran Lane placed 17th with a time of 21:43 and senior Fort rounded out the scoring for Clayton in 22nd with a time of 22:06.
"Ayrton ran another tactful race while Scooter (Anderson) was back to his old self and had a great finish for Top 10 finishes," said Mead. "The humidity continued to frustrate Ciaran, but it's only a matter of time. Ricky ran another gutsy race to wrap up the team scoring.
Sophomores Matthew Bailey and Tanner Thomas finished 32nd and 33rd with times of 23:15 and 23:35, respectively. Dinero Nicholas finished 37th with a time of 27:35.
Clayton State will take next week off before returnign to action on Saturday, September 22nd for the Falcons Classic at Montevallo.
