Greyhounds Take 3rd, Zias Finish 7th
at NMHU Cross Country Meet

LAS VEGAS, N.M. — The Eastern New Mexico University men’s cross country team earned a third place finish at the Cowboy Jamboree hosted by New Mexico Highlands University on Saturday, Sept. 25. Orlando Sanchez (Jr., Los Lunas, NM/Los Lunas HS) led the Greyhounds with a 15th place finish (8th among scorers), while Jason Garcia (Fr., Alamogordo, NM/Alamogordo HS) finished 16th (9th). The ENMU women’s team took 7th place, with Lynnae Chavez (Jr., Cimarron, NM/Cimarron HS) placing 26th (25th).

Eight teams were entered in the men’s division. Host NMHU won the team title with a score of 47, including three top 10 finishes. Colorado College took second place with a score of 84, followed by ENMU in third at 88. South Plains College was fourth at 101, with Western New Mexico in fifth at 109, Dine Community College sixth at 132, Fort Lewis College seventh at 153 and West Texas A&M University eighth at 198.

David Kemei of Dine took first place in the men’s race. He completed the 8-kilometer course in 26:56.00 to finish four seconds in front of Moses Mpanga of South Plains. Sanchez clocked in at 29:00 for ENMU, and Garcia crossed the finish line at 29:04.

Patrick McGuire (Jr., Tacoma, WA/Highline CC), Eastern’s third finisher, was 21st overall and 14th among scorers with a time of 29:18. Kennedy Baiywo (Fr., Eldoret, Kenya/Samoei Secondary School) took 37th place (27th) for ENMU at 30:48. Tyrone Lockett (Levelland, TX/ Levelland HS) also contributed to the Greyhounds’ team score, as he finished 40th overall and 30th among scorers. His time was 31:15. Clint Bizzell (Jr., Odessa, TX/Permian HS) also ran for ENMU, and finished 57th (46th) in 34:25.

Nine teams participated in the women’s race. Colorado College won the team title with a score of 35, including Christy Sweaney in second place. South Plains College was second with a score of 63. SPC provided the women’s champion, Lydia Kimeli, who finished the 5-kilometer run in 20:42. Sweaney clocked in at 20:53 for the only other time under 21:00.

New Mexico Highlands claimed third place with 107 points. New Mexico Junior College was fourth at 132, West Texas A&M University was fifth at 147, Western New Mexico in sixth at 149, ENMU was seventh at 157, Fort Lewis was eighth at 210 and Dine was ninth at 285.

Chavez clocked in for ENMU at 23:35. Laura Rivera (So., El Paso, TX/Montwood HS) was the next Zia to cross the finish line, as she recorded a time of 23:47 to take 28th place overall (27th among scorers). Lindsey Roberts (Fr., San Antonio, TX/Madison HS) completed the race in 24:15 to take 33rd place overall (32nd). Brittany Bauer (Fr., San Antonio, TX/Ronald Reagan HS) was 35th overall (34th) with a time of 24:18 for ENMU. Karissa Huskey (Weeping Water, NE/Weeping Water HS) placed 40th overall at 24:43, as her 39th place finish among scorers completed Eastern’s team score.

Laura Shorty (Fr., Crownpoint, NM/Crownpoint HS) ran for the Zias and took 44th place (43rd) in a time of 24:55. Lisa Lopez (So., Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad HS) of ENMU was 48th overall (47th) with a time of 25:17.

A total of 64 runners competed at the Cowboy Jamboree in the men’s race. The women’s race featured 66 runners.

ENMU returns to action on Saturday, Oct 2, at the Oklahoma State University Jamboree. The event gets underway at 7 a.m. MDT.