The 2004 SWAC Cross Country Championships brought out the inner most determination and drive in every runner. Prairie View A&M University hosted the event. The inclement weather paved the way for a slippery and wet course, but fortunately the course was ruled safe for runners and the championships went ahead as scheduled.The men and women of Grambling State University swept their respective divisions of the competition placing first overall and winning the 2004 SWAC Cross Country Championships. The GSU Lady Tigers, led by head coach Carlos Robinson, had two runners in the top five of the women’s division, capture their third consecutive title. The Lady Tigers Hamiyda Scipio finished in second place, running a time of 19:23, while fellow teammate Asia Lewis finished third with a time of 19:29. On the men’s side, Feedly Binneau finished in first place, with a time of 25:35, while fellow teammate Kerone Fairweather finished in fourth at 26:55.
“I’m extremely pleased with the way our men and women performed today. Our team had to put a lot of things behind us and we fought through the tough weather element throughout the race,” said Carlos Robinson, head women’s cross country coach for Grambling State. “I’m very impressed with the individual efforts of Hamiyda Scipio and Asia Lewis. The Lady Tigers placed a total of four runners on the all-conference teams.
Scipio and Lewis were selected for first team honors while teammates Phillip and Shatina Anderson both made the second team. On the men’s side overall, the Tigers placed two runners on the first team with members Bonneau and Fairweather and one runner, Terron Daniels, on the second team.
Other notable performances for the women, were turned in by Arkansas-Pine Bluff, who finished second overall in total points with 70 and the Lady Tigers of Texas Southern University, who finished third in the points standings with 106.
Individually on the women’s side, Alabama A&M’s Johnelle Thomas finished in first place running a time of 19:03 followed by Grambling State’s duo of Scipio (19:23) and Lewis (19:29) in second and third place respectively. Southern’s Errika Lewis (19:48) came in fourth while Jackson State’s EbanieLewis (19:59) finished in fifth place.
On the men’s side, strong individual performances were also turned in by John Kung’u (Alabama State) who finished in second place with a time of 25:43, Zakany N ‘Degwa (Mississippi Valley) came in third with a time of 26:20, Fairweather (Grambling State) placed fourth running a time of 26:55 and John Bullock (Texas Southern) finished in fifth place with a time of 27:11.
Overall, in the men’s division, Grambling State (47) finished in first place followed by Alabama State (84) in second place and Jackson State (91) in third place.
Coach of the Year honors went to Grambling State’s coach Bertram Lovell for the men and Grambling State’s coach Carlos Robinson for the women.
Bonneau (Grambling State), Kung’u (Alabama State), N’Degwa (Mississippi Valley), Fairweather (Grambling State) and Bullock (Texas Southern) were named to the 2004 All-SWAC Cross Country first team.
The men’s second team consists of Thomas Rivera (Prairie View A&M), Aston Brown (Prairie View A&M), Daniels (Grambling State), Christopher Edwards (Alabama State) and Henry Rope (Jackson State University).
For the women, the 2004 All-SWAC first team selections were Thomas (Alabama A&M), Scipio (Grambling State), Lewis (Grambling State), Thomas (Southern)
and Lewis (Jackson State).
The women’s second team selectees were Anderson (Grambling State), Philip (Grambling State), Brittany Hamilton (Prairie View A&M), Roblyn Smith Arkansas Pine-Bluff) and Lakisha Washington (Arkansas-Pine Bluff).