Athletic Report
October 21, 2001

GILBERT FINISHES 27TH FOR ENMU AT LSC CROSS COUNTRY MEET
SAN ANGELO, TX — Jonathan Gilbert (Jr., Saco, ME/U. of Massachusetts) finished 27th and was ENMU’s top runner at the Lone Star Conference Cross Country Meet, Oct. 20, in San Angelo, Texas.

Debbie Hernandez (So., Lovington, NM/Lovington H.S.) led the ENMU women’s team with a 43rd place finish. Eastern placed 7th out of eight men’s teams, while the Zias finished last among the 10 teams entered, but did not field a full squad.

Gilbert ran the 8-kilometer men’s course in 30:01.04. Robert Fear (Fr., Artesia, NM/Artesia H.S.), took 31st place for ENMU in 30:39.54. Jason Mackey (Fr., Hobbs, NM/Hobbs H.S.) clocked in at 31:35.46 and placed 35th. Ryan Cook (Fr., Albuquerque, NM/La Cueva H.S.) finished 38th in a time of 32:50.62, and Jordan Benge (Fr., Albuquerque, NM/Eldorado H.S.) completing the course in 33:36.55 and placed 40th.

Hernandez, who began competing in cross country for the first time this fall, recorded a personal best in the 5-kilometer women’s race. She concluded the course in 27:09.92 and missed a top 40 finish by less than 11 seconds. Theresa Guerrin (Fr., Phoenix, AZ/Moon Valley H.S.) took 54th with a time of 28:50.08, and Jana Villegas (Fr., Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad H.S.) was 59th in 31:54.93.

Abilene Christian University won both team titles. The ACU men achieved a perfect score of 15 by taking the top 5 places in the meet. The Wildcats won the women’s championship with a score of 61 to edge out Texas A&M University-Kingsville, which finished with a score of 67.

Other men’s teams were East Central University (Okla.) in 2nd with 77 points, Texas A&M- Kingsville in 3rd with 89 points, Angelo State University in 4th place with 102 points, West Texas A&M in 5th place with 122 points, Tarleton State University in 6th place with 126 points, ENMU in 7th place with 166 points, and Texas A&M-Commerce, which had just one runner, listed in 8th place with 191 points.

In addition to Abilene Christian and TAMU-Kingsville, team scores in the women’s race were recorded by Angelo State in 3rd place with 79 points, Tarleton State in 4th place with 84 points, Southeastern Oklahoma State University in 5th place with 100 points, East Central in 6th place with 113 points, West Texas A&M in 7th place with 139 points, Texas A&M-Commerce in 8th place with 232 points, Southwestern Oklahoma State University in 9th place with 257 points, and ENMU in 10th place with a score of 280 points.

The Zias were represented by three runners, two less than a full team. The individual men’s title went to John Kemboi, a junior runner from Abilene Christian. His winning time was 25:12.24. ACU’s Bernard Manirakiza finished 2nd in 25:29.40. In the women’s competition, Nicole Sharp, a junior at Tarleton State University, took first place after clocking in with a time of 22:36.64.Second place went to Justine Nahamina of ACU, who ran the course in 23:31.09.

Eastern New Mexico’s next cross country meet will be the NCAA Division II Regional, set for Nov. 3 in Joplin, Missouri. The meet is scheduled to get underway at 10:00 a.m. (MST).