TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Eastern Kentucky University senior Jacob Korir placed sixth at the NCAA Cross Country Championships Monday in Terre Haute, Ind, running the 10K course in a time of 29:48.7. Teammate Joseph Maina, making his NCAA Championships debut, finished 113th with a time of 31:12.9, despite being in the lead at one point early in the race.

Both Korir and Maina started the race quickly, around the front of the 250-runner field that stayed packed together for at least two miles.

At around the three mile mark, Maina had dropped back, but Korir, in his final race as a Colonel, kept pace with a group of about 20 runners that had distanced themselves from the pack.

Just past the four mile mark, the pace quickened. Some runners began to fade. Korir, however, stayed quietly behind the leading pair, Liberty's Josh McDougal and Oregon's Galen Rupp.

On the final stretch, McDougal and Rupp surged ahead and became engaged in their own race for first. Korir finished sixth, just behind Lopez Lomong of Norther Arizona, former Kentucky high school cross country champion Bobby Curtis of Villanova, and Colorado's Brent Vaughn.

Korir's sixth place finish at the national championships was his best result in four tries.

McDougal won the championship in thrilling fashion with a time of 29:22.4, edging Rupp by exactly one second.

For Korir, the race was the culmination of a stellar career that has seen him win four consecutive individual Ohio Valley Conference titles and the 2006 Southeast Region individual title, in which he beat McDougal. After the race on Monday, that career was crowned by being named an All American for the third straight time.

This was the first year Korir was joined by a teammate at the NCAA Championships, as Maina also earned an automatic invitation after his eighth place finish at the Southeast Region Championship. The Ruiru, Kenya native and Butler Community College transfer has been a pleasant surprise this year for the Colonels, as he appears to get better with each race. Next year, Maina will replace Korir as the Colonels' top runner.