Greyhounds take 5th at LSC Meet
Top five ENMU runners earn personal bests

DURANT, OKLA . — The Eastern New Mexico University men’s cross country team finished in fifth place out of eight teams at the Lone Star Conference Cross Country Meet for the second year in a row, as the top five runners on the team recorded a personal-best time, Oct. 23 at the Durant Country Club. The ENMU women’s team took ninth place out of 11 teams.

In the men’s race, a total of 51 runners competed over an 8-kilometer course. The team title went to Abilene Christian University for the 14th consecutive season. ACU runners grabbed the top five spots in the medalist race, with Martin Okello taking first place in 24:14.27 to finish just over two seconds ahead of Nicodemus Naimadu, who clocked in at 24:16.50. The top runner from another LSC member was Trent Joseph of Angelo State University in sixth place at 25:36.09.

ACU’s perfect score of 15 was followed by East Central University in second place with a score of 60. Angelo State took third at 78 points, while Texas A&M University-Kingsville finished fourth with 93 points, followed by ENMU with 101 points. Tarleton State University ended the race in sixth place at 159, with Texas A&M University-Commerce in seventh place at 171 and West Texas A&M University in eighth place at 225.

Eastern’s top individual finisher was Patrick McGuire (Jr., Tacoma, WA/Highline CC), who took 11th place with a time of 26:18.43. He just missed earning All-Conference honors, which go to the top 10 finishers. Eastern’s second runner to complete the race was Ricardo Hernandez (So., Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad HS) in 26:27.94 for 14th place overall. The Hounds’ standout freshman runner, Jason Garcia, claimed 18th place after clocking in with a time of 26:48.69.

Other runners to score for Eastern were Orlando Sanchez (Jr., Los Lunas, NM/Los Lunas HS) in 24th place at 27:13.04 and Kennedy Baiywo (Fr., Eldoret, Kenya/Samoei Secondary School) in 34th place with a time of 27:59.53. Tyrone Lockett (Fr., Levelland, TX/Levelland HS) also ran for ENMU, and placed 42nd in 29:10.33.

“The men’s team did exceptionally well,” said ENMU Head Coach Joel McMullen. “Each of the top five members of the team set a new personal best for the 8K, improving their times by almost a minute per man from the Oklahoma State University Jamboree (Oct. 2).

“Although we took fifth in the conference again this year, it is quite an accomplishment considering the tremendous increase in the competitive level of the meet,” McMullen added.

“Our team’s time this year would have earned a third place finish last year; and instead of having three runners in the top 20, the times Patrick, Ricardo and Jason ran would have positioned them in sixth, ninth and 10th last year.

“For us to finish fifth ... indicates that we have a strong team with some great athletes. When you consider that four of the top 10 teams in the NCAA South Central Region are from our conference, I believe it is clear that we are right on the verge of having a breakout season.”

The Zias competed against a field of 67 runners in the 6-kilometer women’s race. Karissa Huskey (Sr., Weeping Water, NE/Nebraska Wesleyan University) crossed the finish line first for Eastern, as she took 33rd place in 26:18.01. Lynnae Chavez (Jr., Cimarron, NM/Cimarron HS) concluded the race in 26:42.43 and placed 40th. Brittany Bauer (Fr., San Antonio, TX/Ronald Reagan HS) was timed at 27:31.15 and was 48th, while Laura Shorty (Fr., Crownpoint, NM/ Crownpoint HS) ended the race in 51st place with a time of 28:06.30. Lisa Lopez (So., Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad HS) provided Eastern’s fifth score for the team total by completing the course in 53rd place at 28:21.77.

Lindsey Roberts (Fr., San Antonio, TX/Madison HS) traversed the course in 28:33.71 to finish in 56th place. Joyce Doan (Jr., Kent, WA/Pacific Lutheran University) was 59th after clocking in with a time of 29:12.65.

“We were disappointed in the overall performance of the women’s team,” McMullen said. “We trained exceptionally hard and well over the past couple of weeks, and had anticipated stronger performances individually than we had at Oklahoma State. For whatever reason, we fell short and must now look inside and determine what has to be done to be better next season.

“We have two seniors who will be leaving the program at the end of the year: Karissa Huskey and Jana Villegas,” McMullen noted. “They will be sorely missed, and their shoes will be very hard to fill. Both of them have contributed in every aspect of the cross country program this year.”

Medalist honors in the women’s race were earned by ACU’s Adeh Mwamba, who won by over a minute ahead of Veronica Rodriguez of TAMU-Kingsville. Mwamba reached the finish line in 21:51.85, while Rodriguez took second place in 22:52.35. An additional 20 seconds went by before Olha Kryv’yak of ACU finished third in 23:12.04.

ACU won the women’s team title with a score of 36, and held a comfortable margin over the University of Central Oklahoma in second place with a score of 82. East Central was third with 97 points, and was followed by TAMU-Commerce in fourth place with 127 points, Angelo State in fifth place with 130 points and TAMU-Kingsville in sixth place with 138 points.

Tarleton State was seventh with a score of 213, West Texas A&M was eighth at 218 and ENMU followed at 225. Tenth place went to Southwestern Oklahoma State University with 240 points. Southeastern Oklahoma State University rounded out the team standing in 11th place at 242 points.

The ENMU men’s cross country team will compete at the NCAA Division II South Central Regional, hosted by Missouri Southern State University on Saturday, Nov. 6. The women’s team will not participate in the Regional. The NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships will be held in Evansville, Ind., on Nov. 20.