SHAWNEE, Okla. – The East Central University men's cross country team finished first at the 2021 Oklahoma Baptist University Invitational, while senior Carson Sandvik finished first individually at the race.

2021 OBU Invite Results

Sandvik claimed his first individual title in his career, after picking up a second-place finish at the OBU Invitational in the Spring 2020-21 season.  He finished the four-mile race in a time of 20:50.78, just ahead of his previous best time in the meet (20:47.34).

All five runner for the Tigers that earned points finished in the top-10, with student-athletes finishing 1^st, 3^rd, 5^th, 7^th and 8^th.  ECU also saw two other runner displacer other teams scoring, finishing in 9^th and 11^th.
 

Finish	Team	Score	Scoring Order
1.	East Central	24	1-3-5-7-8
2.	Cameron	65	2-12-16-17-18
3.	Oklahoma Baptist	78	4-10-20-21-23
4.	North Central Texas	94	13-15-19-22-25
5.	Oklahoma Science & Arts	130	6-14-29-39-42
6.	Southern Nazarene	150	24-26-30-24-36
7.	Carl Albert State College	214	40-41-43-44-46

  
Tiger Top Performers

• Sr. Carson Sandvik – 20:50.78 – 1^st
• RJr. Gilberto Palomo – 21:09.68 – 3^rd
• Sr. Denzel Vilsaint – 21:27.98 – 5^th
• Jr. Emmanuel Bett – 21:50.66 – 7^th
• Sr. Edward Njuguna – 21:53.67 – 8^th

Other Tiger Performances

• Fr. Jackson Parrish – 21:56.04 – 9^th
• Sr. Jakaveon Shaw – 22:11.86 – 11^th
• RJr. Zach Wells – 22:14.89 – 12^th
• Fr. AJ Gustin – 22:18.63 – 13^th
• Fr. Maverick Stephenson – 22:23.79 – 16^th
• Jr. Chris Larson – 22:36.12 – 19^th
• Fr. Elijah Cook – 22:46.95 – 23^rd

Tiger Highlights

• This is the sixth season that ECU has participated in the OBU Invitational
  • Second time finished first – 2016
  • Never finished out of the top-3
• First time in six years that a Tiger runner claimed the top individual spot
  • Top previous finisher was Kevin Matthews: 2^nd in 2016
• Shaw has now participated in the meet four times in his career
  • Top finishing time
    • 2020-21: 25:42.0 (4^th) / 27:12.6 (19^th) / 27:32.34 (19^th)
• This was the third time for Wells to run in the race
  • Top finishing time and overall finish
    • 2020-21: 27:02.0 (16^th) / 2019: 27:26.5 (21^st)
• Bett, Njuguna, Palomo and Vilsaint ran in the race for the second time
• First career races for Parrish, Gustin, Stephenson, Larson and Cook

Up Next

• The Tigers will be off until Saturday, Sept. 18
  • Missouri Southern Stampede – Joplin, Mo.
  • Race will be a preview of the 2021 NCAA DII Central Regional race course