VANCOUVER, Wash. – Zouhair Talbi repeated as individual national champion and Shimales Abebe as national runner-up at the NAIA men's cross country championships on Friday at the Fort Vancouver National Historical Site, leading Oklahoma City University to a 10th-place finish in the team standings.
 
In claiming his second straight national title, Talbi crossed the 8,000 meter race finish line at 24 minutes, 43.1 seconds, just ahead of Abebe's 24:56.6 effort. The duo were 1-2 at the 2K mark, then fell back into the pack before climbing back to the top of the race at the 6K mark.
 
Talbi, a junior from Tighassaline, Khenifra, Morocco, was the top finisher in all four races he participated in this fall and has claimed top honors in all eight career races as a Star. Abebe, a sophomore from Los Angeles, Calif., now has six top-5 finishes in eight career races at OCU.
 
Also placing for the Stars were Milos Pendic in 72nd place (26:27.9), Milan Todorovic in 83rd place (26.36.7), Emmanuel Kipruto in 178th place (27:22.5), Paul Welch in 198th place (27:33.9) and Joseph Engel in 283rd place (28:30.0).
 
OCU's 10th-place finish marks the ninth consecutive year that the Stars have finished in the top 10 of the team standings at the NAIA Championships.