by Larry Eder
The mild mannered, very likable Justyn Knight, the fine Canadian runner, who took ninth in the London World Champs 5000 meters last summer. His pedigree in cross country has impressed many in North America. In 2015, in NCAA cross country, Justyn took fourth, in 2016 he took second, and what would he do in 2017?
Well, he had a perfect day of running today, as he took his first individual NCAA cross country title!
Using that 3:56.7 mile speed, Justyn Knight kept his mojo behind Matthew Baxter and Tyler Day of Northern Arizona. With the finish line in site, Justyn Knight made his move, flying past Tyler Day first and then, finally, past Matthew Baxter, to win, 29:00.11 to 29:00.78!
Justyn Knight runs for Syracuse, under the thoughtful coaching of Chris Fox, who has taken the last decade and rebuilt a fine program at Syracuse, his team taking 11th today.
Knight’s move was textbook Justyn, a surgical attack, clean move and bursting finish. Baxter and Day were overwhelmed, but that was okay as they lead their team mates at Northern Arizona to a second straight NCAA team victory.
The wind challenged many, but Knight was going to have his day. Last year, his second place behind Patrick Tiernan (Villanova) showed his talent and his fine training and racing all fall made this nearly a fait accompli.
Top Ten teams, NCAA: 1. Northern Arizona, 74, 2. Portland, 127, 3. BYU, 165, 4.Stanford, 221, 5. Arkansas, 259, 6. Oregon, 274, 7. Iowa State, 279, 8. Colorado, 294, 9. Colorado State, 318, 10. 328.
Top five individuals: 1. Justyn Knight, Syracuse, 29:00.11, 2. Matthew Baxter, Northern Arizona, 29:00.78, 3. Tyler Day, Northern Arizona, 29:04.55, 4. Gilbert Kigen, Alabama, 29:11.8, 5. Grant Fisher, Stanford, 29:12.06, for complete results: https://xcmeet.io/meets/564/xc-scoreboard
And, congrats to Norther Arizona once again!
As a West Coast Athletic Conference alum (Santa Clara University, 81, 82), congrats to the Portland Pilots on their fine second place!
