Freshman Alex Ngabo represented the Buffalo State Cross Country teams in the NCAA Division III
Championships held in Terre Haute, Ind. on Saturday, marking the first time in 28 years that Buffalo
State has sent a runner to the NCAA Championship meet.
Finishing out a record-breaking season for the Bengals, Ngabo placed 63rd of 275 runners, covering the
daunting LaVern Gibson Course in 25:26, a time which missed All-American honors by 19 seconds.
Head coach Dustin Dimit, who accompanied Ngabo to the meet, said he couldn’t help but recognize the
magnitude of the race.
“Everywhere you are there are people lining the course yelling, just very high energy people were trying
to yell to athletes and push athletes,” Dimit said. “It was definitely a different atmosphere, for Alex to go
and experience that and build on that is great.”
Despite facing pressure from being a freshman and running in the biggest race of the year, Ngabo
handled it well.
“I was nervous. I didn’t even sleep well because I was thinking about the race so much,” Ngabo said. “It’s
not where I wanted to finish, but I did my best. I ran my second-fastest time of the season on a very
challenging course and I now know how much I need to train to place where I want to be for next year.”
Dimit noted that the men’s team is a close-knit group.
“I think the men’s team is a lot closer than it ever has been. It was demonstrated with a whole carload of
those guys that came down there, giving up their Friday and Saturday just to support their teammate,”
Dimit said.
The end of the race marked the end of a historic season for the men’s cross country team, but served
as the beginning for a group of runners that should compete for multiple titles on both the men’s and
women’s side.
“We are really happy with the progress that both teams made. We would like the women to make a
little more progress but the men made a huge jump,” Dimit said. “With what Alex (Ngabo) did and how
he finished, a lot of people were motivated to go out in the summer and work hard so we can go to
nationals as a team. We’re really excited for the future of both teams.”
Ngabo echoed his coach’s points.
“I am happy with my season and overall everybody improved time-wise and we are happy with this
year’s result, but we will continue to work harder to be able to perform much better next season,” he
said.
Ryan Esguerra can be reached by email at esguerra.record@live.com.