GREENVILLE, S.C. – Geoffrey Sambu is back in a familiar position for the Tennessee Tech men's cross country team.
Barely.
The Kenyan junior who was an all-OVC and all-region runner last season, has fought his way back after a long layoff, and led the Golden Eagles Saturday to an eighth place finish in a tough, 12-team field at the Furman Invitational.
Junior Daniel Williamson, who led Tech last week at Indiana, was a mere three seconds behind Sambu in the 8K race, one of three Golden Eagles to post a career-best time for that distance.
Furman captured the team title on its home course by sweeping the first four positions and seven of the top nine. That put the Paladins (16) at the front ahead of Auburn (46), Wake Forest (109), Clemson (133) and VMI (137) in the top five.
Georgia (162) was sixth, followed by East Tennessee (173), Tennessee Tech (244), Western Carolina (245) and Mercer (305). Wofford (320) and Presbyterian (338) completed the field.
Sambu's time of 25:34.91 placed him 24th overall, while Williamson crossed the finish line in 25:37.29 for a new PR by nearly a minute. He was 28th overall. Freshman Amos Kipchirchir shaved more than two minutes off his previous best, finishing in 26:50.33 for 51st place.
"Our men's team is starting to put it together," said head coach Wayne Angel. "I was pleased with the efforts of Geoffrey, Daniel and Amos. They raced very well today. Sambu is starting to find his fitness after having been off for eight months rehabbing. He ran great today.
"I was also pleased with Dan," Angel added. "He is a man on a mission. It's good to have a one-two punch again. I believe you will see some very special performances next week in Nashville. This group of kids are out to prove that TTU cross country is relevant."
Another Golden Eagle with a career-best effort was freshman Timothy Misoy, who placed 89th in the time of 27:55.90, two minutes better than his time last week. Collin Gwaltney was 99th in 29:07.89, while Noah Rotich established a career-best of 29:56.95, finishing 108th in his first race as a Golden Eagle.
Angel will look for that continued improvement next Saturday morning (Sept. 19) when the Golden Eagles run in Nashville's Percy Warner Park at Vanderbilt's Commodore Classic.
