Baumann Finishes 149th at NAIA National Championships
VANCOUVER, WA—Much like his cross country times, Lenny Baumann's career at GSU went by in a flash.
The most decorated male runner in Governors State history capped his season Thursday morning with a 149th-place showing (out of 330 runners) at the 66th Annual National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics National Championships, held at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Championship Course. His placing is the highest ever for a Jaguar—Stephanie Clarkson finished 155th in 2016.
Baumann completed the eight-kilometer, rolling, European-style course in 27:09.2, edging out conference rival Josphat Chumba of Judson at the finish line by a second. Baumann finished third among the six at-large qualifiers from the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference.
Zohair Talbi of Oklahoma City defended his individual title in a time of 24:43.1, breaking the tape 12 seconds ahead of teammate Shimales Abebe. On the team side, Milligan won the red banner while CCAC member St. Francis finished fourth.
Baumann stood in 160th place after the opening kilometer and moved up 80 spots over the next 2,000 meters for his highest positioning in the race.
"It was a sneaky hard course but beautiful," said Baumann afterwards. "I'm not super happy with my performance but it was such a cool experience and I enjoyed every second of the race."
"It wasn't the race he wanted, but he had a great experience and a great run to the finish line," said seventh-year Head Coach Kevin Kredens. "I think the meet proves just how good NAIA cross country is everywhere. These runners are really good. Nevertheless, Lenny was great for our program this year."
(L-R): Assistant Coach John Niendorf, Lenny Baumann, Head Coach Kevin Kredens
