Sports Release
September 11, 1999

VERONICA SAMANIEGO FINISHES 6TH AMONG INDIVIDUAL SCORERS AT TEXAS TECH MEET
LUBBOCK, TX — Veronica Samaniego (Sr., Sonora, TX/Sonora H.S.) placed 6th out of all runners scoring for their respective teams at the Red Raider Invitational hosted by Texas Tech University at Mae Simmons Park, Sept. 11 in Lubbock, Texas.

David Gonzalez (So., Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad H.S.) was the top finisher for the ENMU men’s team, placing 11th out of all competitors in the men’s race. Eastern’s women took second place with 43 points.

Texas Tech won the women’s division with a perfect score of 15. Wayland Baptists took third with 52 points. Samaniego placed 8th overall, behind Texas Tech’s five official runners, plus two other TTU entries.

Samaniego finished the 5K race in 22:28. Mindy Clark (Jr.,Carlsbad, NM/ Carlsbad H.S.) placed 7th among scorers and 10th overall in a time of 23:14. Other top ENMU runners were Lindsey Pfaff (Fr., Los Alamos, NM/Los Alamos H.S.) who took 8th among scorers and 13th overall in 25:05, Jerri Begay (So., Crownpoint, NM/Crownpoint H.S.) who placed 10th among scorers and 15th overall in 26:06, and Jacqueline Atkins (So., Espanola, NM/Pojoaque H.S.) who took 12th place among scorers and 17th overall.

ENMU did not have enough healthy men’s runners to earn a team score, but Gonzalez ran well and finished in 30:12 over the 8K course. Texas Tech won the men’s team title with a perfect score of 15, led by Boniface Ndungu who was the top scoring finisher in 26:34. Michael Mjenga, running unattached, was the overall winner in 24:46.

Wayland Baptist took second in the team competition with 40 points. In addition to Gonzalez, the Greyhounds received a strong performance from Juan Castanon (Jr., Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad H.S.), who completed the race in 31:53. Stephen Bogue (Fr., Albuquerque, NM/Monzano H.S.) finished in 39:18.

The Zias and the Greyhounds return to action on Sat., Sept. 18 at the Fort Lewis College Meet in Durango, Colorado. ENMU then hosts the Enchanted Desert Classic at 9:00 a.m. (MDT) on Sat., Oct. 2.