Note: This is the first in a series of stories that will take a look back at some of the many titles won by Oklahoma Christian teams and individuals through the decades. Today's story is about the 2012 men's cross country team that won the National Christian College Athletic Association title.

OKLAHOMA CITY (Aug 20, 2020) – Oklahoma Christian men's cross country program left the NAIA with a thunderclap, winning the 2011 national title in dominant fashion. Then the Eagles ventured into the unknown in 2012.

Although they returned a talented core of runners, the Eagles would be without their anchor, Silas Kisorio, a 21-time track and cross country national champion who had completed his eligibility. As OC entered the three-year NCAA Division II membership transition period, the Eagles wouldn't have access to a conference meet – Heartland Conference coaches had voted not to allow incoming teams to race in the event – thus denying them one chance at postseason honors.

OC had a new head coach, former OC runner and assistant coach Wade Miller, and also was joining a new national organization, the National Christian College Athletic Association. There were few hints of the caliber of competition the Eagles could expect to face in a run at another national title.

Then, at the end of September, one of the team's top runners, sophomore Roberto Diaz, hurt his back in the Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater, an injury that would keep him out until the national meet and cost him valuable training time.

Despite all the uncertainty, the Eagles enjoyed a successful season and approached the NCCAA Championship meet in Cedarville, Ohio, on Nov. 10 with cautious optimism. OC figured to be among the favorites, but so did Malone (Ohio), a team that had won 21 NCCAA titles (including six of the previous seven), had already built a strong NCAA Division II program and was running close to home.

Then there were other programs moving (like OC) from the NAIA into the NCAA, including Shorter (Ga.), Azusa Pacific (Calif.) and California Baptist, that had traditionally strong teams, as well as Heartland Conference champion Dallas Baptist (Texas).

But any doubts the Eagles might have had quickly subsided once the 8,000-meter race began with temperatures in the 50s and a stiff, cool breeze.

From the start, the Eagles controlled the race, placing four runners in the top 10 and all seven in the top 30 in the 39-team, 281-man field. Senior Geoffrey Njonjo (second in 25:10.84), Diaz (fourth in 25:18.85), senior Brayden Barrientez (fifth in 25:20.71) and senior David McWilliams (10th in 25:34.16) all earned NCCAA All-America honors for the Eagles. Diaz hadn't raced in six weeks before his performance.

The Eagles' final three runners – freshmen Bryant Keirns and Timothy Zuercher and sophomore Brennym Kaelin – finished seconds apart, not much further back. Keirns was 23rd in 26:24.18. Kaelin was just a step behind, finishing 24th in 26:25.02, and Zuercher was 28th in 26:33.68, just one spot behind the runner from Dallas Baptist who had won the Heartland Conference individual title. OC's first and last runners finished just 83 seconds apart, a remarkable feat in itself.

Malone proved to be the Eagles' closest competition, but OC beat the Pioneers at four of the five scoring positions and posted a team score of 41, 13 points lower than Malone's, with California Baptist (84) a distant third. Miller, the rookie head coach, was named as the NCCAA coach of the year.

"Each runner did what was needed and left everything on the course," Miller said after the race. "Our seniors have given so much to the program and I'm thrilled that they were rewarded with a national championship. They have been pushing the underclassmen to improve and that showed in the poise that every runner, one through seven, displayed today."

For Njonjo, McWilliams, Barrientez and Diaz, it was their second team national title, as all four runners also started on the 2011 NAIA championship squad. Barrientez, who ran perhaps his best career race as an Eagle, called it "a good way to go out."

The 2011 and 2012 teams started a long run of success for the OC program. The Eagles won an unofficial Heartland title in 2013 (with Diaz and Keirns finishing 1-2 individually) and finished fourth in the NCCAA, then were second in both the Heartland and NCCAA races in 2014. In 2015, OC won the Heartland title, with Kaelin taking the individual crown and nine runners finishing in the top 17, and the Eagles have finished in the top four in every conference meet (Heartland or Lone Star Conference) ever since.