TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - In a meet that featured six of the top-15 ranked teams in the NCAA’s South Region, the Kennesaw State men’s Cross Country team held their own on Friday evening in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, finishing 6th at the Crimson Classic, hosted by the University of Alabama.

Leading the way for the Owls was sophomore Jaakko Nieminen, who ran the 8k course at Harry Pritchett Running Course in a time of 26:05, netting him a 23rd place finish. The native of Finland thought that the course set-up really well for his strengths, and was very comfortable throughout the race, even though this was the first 8k meet the Owls have competed in this season.

“I didn’t really do anything differently as far as preparing for this race. We all just worked really hard in practice, and with the type of conditioning that we do, the jump in distance wasn’t a big change for us,” said Nieminen. “The course was pretty hilly, and with it being a little longer than what we’re used to, it was very important for me to run strong throughout the race and make sure that I was smart about conserving energy for the end.”

While running an 8k is a challenge for any competitor who has only run in 5k events leading up to it, the coaching staff was especially interested to see how the Owls’ two freshmen, Nabil Hamid and Ryan Burruss, would fare, seeing as how this was not a distance they had ever competed in during high school. The duo performed very respectably, with Hamid coming in with a time of 26:07 to finish 25th and be the only other Owl to place in the top-25 besides Nieminen in the 129-man field.

Burruss finished in 57th place, completing the course in 27:17. Both newcomers would finish in the top-five for the Owls, who finished with 164 points. Host Alabama placed four runners in the top-six on their way to scoring 34 points and claiming the overall title.

“It was a really fun challenge, running at that distance for the first time,” Burruss commented after the race. “The one thing that surprised me was that I was making sure to pace myself, and then right out of the gate everyone was running just as fast as they would have at a 5k. I think I learned a lot at this event, and now I can take this experience and use it to improve my performance in the next 8k.”

Associate Head Coach Don McGarey was pleased with a lot of what he saw on Friday, and Nieminen and the two freshmen were no small part of that.

“I was really thrilled to see Jaakko run the way he did tonight. He didn’t let up, and he gave us everything he had,” McGarey said. “[Burruss and Hamid] both did a great job as well, seeing as how they haven’t run that distance in competition before.”

Team Results

1. Alabama 34

2. Tennessee 55

3. Auburn 76

4. Georgia Tech 153

5. Belmont 156

6. Kennesaw State 164

7. ETSU 167

8. Chattanooga 197

9. Ms. Valley State 265

10. LSU 284

11. Alabama State 287

12. Troy 318

13. Samford 322

14. North Alabama 360

15. Huntingdon 467

16. Stillman 495

Individual Results

23. Jaakko Nieminen 26:05

25. Nabil Hamid 26:07

41. Piotr Witczak 26:47

50. Michael Johnson 27:00

57. Ryan Burruss 27:17

61. Matt Auers 27:28

108. Peikko Solla 30:46