Rams men, women win CIAA cross-country titles

By: John Dell | Winston-Salem Journal
Published: October 21, 2010

It didn’t take long for Winston-Salem State to win its first conference title since rejoining the CIAA.

Both the men’s and women’s cross-country teams won conference titles yesterday in Cary. It was the first time in school history that WSSU won cross-country titles.

Leading the way for the women was Brittney Killebrew, who won the 5-K individual title with a time of 19:40.6. Teammate Manuela Rigaud was second in 20:01.6.; Tyrah Winfrey of the Rams was eighth and Ashley Lawson was 10th. Also with top-15 finishes for the Rams were Ashley Fraser (13th) and Kristi Baptiste (15th).

The Rams scored 34 points to edge Virginia State, who had 35. Saint Augustine’s was third with 106 and Bowie State was fourth with 131 points.

“It was all about having a positive attitude and that’s what we’ve stressed all year,” said interim coach Inez Turner, who was an assistant at N.C. A&T the last four seasons before being hired in May. “All 14 of my athletes have been training very well and the positive attitude is all we’ve talked about.”

Turner, who is from Jamaica, is a former Olympics runner who graduated from Texas State in 1998. She was twice an NCAA champion in the women’s 800. She said that three weeks ago, the Rams started to train very hard in preparation for the CIAA championships.

“We utilized a lot of the hills around campus to train and that really helped us,” she said.

The WSSU men had an easier time, winning with 26 points with Bowie State a distant second with 50. Shaw was third with 104 points and Saint Aug’s fourth with 145.

The Rams swept the top three places with Andrew Chebil winning the 8-K in 24.43.3, followed by teammates Aron Barnes (25.57.6) and Desmond Wiggan (26.06).

Also for WSSU, Kevin Rice was eighth, Fabian White finished 13th and Mathew Noble was 14th.

“Andrew has been running really well of late,” Tuner said about Chebil, a sophomore from Kenya who won three times last fall and finished second in two other meets.

The Rams will participate in the Division II regionals on Nov. 20 in Cary.

“This was just a blessing to win both meets,” she said. “Everybody had a good day.”