Senior Titus Kiptoo placed 47^th overall out of 200 runners to lead the Wayne State men's cross country team Saturday morning at the NCAA Division II Central Region Championships held in Joplin, Missouri at Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course.  As a team, the Wildcats finished 23^rd out of 29 teams with 619 points.
            East Central (Okla.) captured the team title easily topping Pittsburg State 40-112.  Northwest Missouri State took third and was the final automatic qualifying national team with 125 points, edging Washburn by one point in fourth with Missouri Southern fifth at 165 points.
            Kiptoo, a senior from Kapsabet, Kenya, ran the 10,000-meter course in a time of 32:04.7 to be the first Wildcat runner across the line.  Sophomore Quentin Dreyer followed in 113^th place at 33:31.2 and Ravenna senior Abe Schroeder was next in 139^th place in 34:10.6.
            Other Wildcat finishers were Wakefield senior Gabe Peitz (149^th – 34:40.0), West Point junior Brandon Mitzel in 171^st place at 35:21.8, Lincoln freshman Brady Franzen (178^th – 35:42.5) and Milford freshman Carter Roth in 196^th place with a time of 40:42.8.
 
Wayne State men's finishers at NCAA Central Region Championships
Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course – Joplin, Missouri (10,000-meters)
47.        Titus Kiptoo                  32:04.7
113.      Quentin Dreyer              33:31.2
139.      Abe Schroeder              34:10.6
149.      Gabe Peitz                    34:40.0
171.      Brandon Mitzel              35:21.8
178.      Brady Franzen               35:42.5
196.      Carter Roth                   40:42.8