Lakewood’s Salukombo Competes In NCAA Championship

L.H.S 2008 Graduate Dee Salukombo competes for Denison U. at the 2009 NCAA Championship
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2008 Lakewood High School graduate Makorobondo (Dee) Salukombo earned an individual spot at the 2009 NCAA Division III Men's Cross Country Championship held at the Highland Park Golf Club in Cleveland, Ohio on November 21. Dee, competing on the Denison University Cross Country team, earned this spot by placing second at the 2009 NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Championship held at the LaVerne Gibson Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Indiana on November 14, 2009. In addition, Dee placed first in five out of seven cross country meets this season for Denison.

Cleveland's Baldwin-Wallace College hosted the NCAA Division III Men's Cross Country Championship this year. This event had over 560 competitors with 32 Division III men's teams, 32 women's teams, and 56 individuals from all over the country. Dee finished 33rd overall out of 276 men’s competitors with a time of 26:07.6 and was named All American. The 8k race was won by Ricky Flynn of Lynchburg Virginia with a time of 25:09.8.

The only other Lakewood High School graduate earning a spot to run this NCAA Division III Championship event was 2008 Graduate Tim Kelly competing with his team from Mount Union.

Dee is a sophomore at Denison University in Granville Ohio working towards a major in Chemistry and was an All-Ohio selection and a two-time athlete of the year at Lakewood H.S.