Athletic Report
September 14, 2001

GILBERT PLACES 17TH TO LEAD GREYHOUNDS AT WAYLAND BAPTIST CROSS COUNTRY MEET
PLAINVIEW, TX — Eastern New Mexico University cross country runner Jonathan Gilbert (Jr., Saco, ME/U. of Massachusetts) placed 17th to lead the Greyhounds to a third place finish at the Wayland Baptist University Pioneer Challenge on Sept. 14. The meet was held at Running Water Draw in Plainview, Texas.

Abilene Christian won the men’s team title with a perfect score of 15. Tarleton State finished second with a score of 57. ENMU edged out Wayland Baptist for third place, earning a score of 95, while WBU scored 100. New Mexico Junior College placed fifth with a score of 103. West Texas A&M and Angelo State did field complete teams in the men’s division.

Gilbert finished the 8-kilometer race in 29:14 to set a personal best in the event. He also set personal bests at the 3-mile and 4-mile marks. He finished just 9 seconds out of 15th place.

Two other ENMU runners were among the top 26 finishers. Laurence Chibvongodze (Fr., Harare, Zimbabwe/Prince Edward H.S.) took 24th place with a time of 29:54. Robert Fear (Fr., Artesia, NM/Artesia H.S.) placed 26th in a time of 30:31. Also scoring for ENMU were Ryan Cook (Fr., Albuquerque, NM/La Cueva H.S.), who finished 30th in 31:30, and Jason Mackey (Fr., Hobbs, NM/Hobbs H.S.), who took 34th with a time of 31:56. Joe Scholer, running his first ever 8K race, finished in 41:58.

The men’s individual champion was ACU’s John Kemboi, who clocked in at 25:19.0 to defeat teammate Bernard Manirakiza by four seconds. Manirakiza’s time was 25:23. In the women’s race, Debbie Hernandez (So., Lovington, NM/Lovington H.S.) of ENMU placed 17th out of 38 runners. Her time was 22:07, as she cut 2 minutes from her previous best.Hernandez was Eastern’s only entrant in the women’s division.

Angelo State won the women’s team title with a score of 41. Tarleton State finished second with a score of 49. ACU was third at 63, New Mexico J.C. took fourth at 88, West Texas A&M was fifth at 92 and Oklahoma Panhandle State took sixth at 161. ENMU did not score.

ENMU’s next competition is on Saturday, Sept. 22 at New Mexico Highlands University. The NMHU Meet is scheduled to start at 10:00 a.m. (MST).