Greyhounds Take First Place at Wayland Baptist;
Zias Finish Second Behind Angelo State

PLAINVIEW, TX – The Eastern New Mexico University men’s cross country team took first place at the Wayland Baptist University Cross Country Meet, Sept. 6 in Plainview, Texas. Junior transfer runner Ben Muniz (El Paso, TX/El Paso JC) led the way, finishing second in the medalist race with a time of 28:28 for the 5-mile men’s course. In the women’s competition, the ENMU Zias claimed second place, led by Karissa Huskey (So., Syracuse, NE/Nebraska Wesleyan), who completed the 3.1-mile course (5K) in fifth place with a time of 21:06.

The Greyhounds won the men’s title with a score of 35. West Texas A&M University, which edged the Hounds at Texas Tech last weekend, took second place with a score of 56. Wayland Baptist placed third with 57 points, and was followed by McMurry University with 77 points. Angelo State University did not enter a complete men’s team.

Muniz was the first of four ENMU runners to finish in the Top 10 of the men’s race. He was followed by Chad Penn (Fr., Canon, TX/Canon HS) who placed seventh with a time of 29:23. Orlando Sanchez (Fr., Los Lunas, NM/Los Lunas HS) finished eighth in 29:27, and Mario Cabrera (Fr., Texico, NM/Clovis HS) took ninth in 29:30. Among runners who contributed to team scores, Penn, Sanchez and Cabrera placed fifth, sixth and seventh.
Also recording a score for Eastern’s team total was Jerry Macias (Sr., Las Cruces, NM/Las Cruces HS). He ran the course in 30:50 and finished 17th overall (15th among scorers).

Other runners for ENMU were Eric Coca (Fr., Cimarron, NM/Cimarron HS), who placed 23rd overall in 32:46, and Jason Andrews (Fr., Smyer, TX/Smyer HS), who finished 28th in 34:11. It was Coca’s first race for ENMU. Andrews ran last weekend at Texas Tech.
Medalist honors in the men’s race went to Justin Hesse of West Texas A&M. He concluded the event in 28:13 to edge Muniz by 15 seconds. Kyle Winter of WTAMU placed third in 28:34.

Huskey and Leora Shorty (Jr., Crownpoint, NM/Crownpoint HS) crossed the finish line at virtually the same moment. Both runners were credited with a time of 21:06, but Huskey was awarded fifth place and Shorty finished sixth. The duo of ENMU runners was just 12 seconds out of fourth place and 15 seconds out of third.

Lynnae Chavez (Fr., Cimarron, NM/Cimarron HS) also completed the race in the Top 10. She finished eighth with a time of 21:14. Other runners for Eastern were Miranda Bonnett (Fr., Clovis, NM/Clovis HS), who clocked in at 22:06 to take 14th place, and Bridgette Pene (Jr., Shallowater, TX/South Plains College), who claimed 15th place with a time of 22:12.

The individual champion in the women’s race was Kelley Bryson of New Mexico Junior College. She crossed the finish line in 19:34 for the only sub 20-minute time of the event. Bryson held a 1:10 lead over her own teammate, Katie Simpson, who took second place in 20:44.

Angelo State won the women’s team championship. The Rambelles recorded a team score of 33 to win by 15 points. ENMU edged NMJC for second place, with the Zias scoring 48 and NMJC scoring 49. West Texas A&M was fourth at 101, McMurry was fifth at 133 and Oklahoma Panhandle State University was sixth at 154. Wayland Baptist did not enter a full women’s team.

The Greyhounds and the Zias will return to action next weekend, when they run at the University of New Mexico Lobo Invitational, set for Saturday, Sept. 14. The women’s race is scheduled to start at 10:00 a.m. (MST), with the men’s race slated to begin at 10:30 a.m. (MST). A total of 14 teams will be entered in the collegiate division, including UNM, Air Force, Texas-El Paso and Texas Tech from NCAA Division I. The high school division, with races scheduled to start earlier in the morning, will feature 13 schools.