Denver, CO - On Saturday morning, Men's and Women's Cross Country competed at the DII South Central Region in Denver, Colorado. The men raced a 10k against 25 other teams. The Mustangs would finish 16
th. The women raced a 6k, finishing in 24
th.
In the south-central region, there were 14 RMAC schools and 11 LSC schools competing to go to the national championship in December.
"The performances were not where we wanted them, we were out some runners on the men side. We had to make substitutions 45 minutes before the race due to sickness, and another recovering from being sick," said Campos. "For our women, a couple of them were sick and we were running without our number two girl. Just with these factors right away we were putting ourselves into a little deficit."
The first Mustang to cross the finishing line was
Aaron Perez (El Paso. TX/Eastwood High School). Perez placed 55
th out of 164 with a time of 32:51.70. Shortly behind was teammate
Rowan Flores (Española, NM/Los Alamos HS) coming in 81
st (33:59.60). 86
th place would go to
Elias Perez (El Paso, TX/Eastwood HS) (34:04.50)
Concluding the men, (100)
Joshua Lara (Albuquerque, NM/Atrisco Heritage Academy HS) ran a 34:29.60, (113)
Melvin Scott (Tohatchi, NM/Tohatchi HS) 35:03.80, (139)
Ahren Thorson () 36:28 and
Dylan Walker (El Paso, TX/Burges High School) would finish shortly behind with a time of 36:51.10.
For the Women,
Gracey Lovato (Rio Rancho, NM/Rio Rancho HS) finished 65
th (23:47.60),
Itzela Darkenwald (Conroe, TX/Caney Creek High School) placed 132
nd with a time of 26:58.50. Right behind was
Lindsey Green (Silver City, NM/Silver HS) (147) 26:58.10.
Concluding the Women, (155)
Nayeli Cobos (Dexter, NM/Dexter HS) 28:04.60, (157)
Brenda Prieto (Las Cruces, NM/Mayfield HS) 28:14.60, (162)
Abigail Cushman (Animas, NM/Animas HS) 29:58.50, (163) Gladys Dominguez 30:30.90.
"I would say we were successful, just caught sickness at the wrong time. Other than that they ran the best they could, and as a coach that is all I can ask for" Campos concluded.
This post-game article was brought to you by First American Bank.
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Western New Mexico University is a member of the NCAA Division II, and the Lone Star Conference (LSC). For additional information regarding Mustang Athletics, visit www.wnmumustangs.com; visit wnmu.edu for more information about Western New Mexico University. Follow the Mustangs on social media: @WNMUathletics (Twitter & Instagram).
