LUBBOCK, TX- Today, both cross country teams competed in Lubbock at the Texas Tech Invite hosted by Texas Tech University.
 
The men's team raced their first 8K for the season, finishing 7th overall. While the women ran their first season 6K distance finishing 9th. 
 
This week, the women fought for a tight team score, putting them in the top 10 placement overall. The top 3 runners were just 7 seconds apart from each other, all breaking the 25min barrier. The fastest time to cross the line came from Aubrey Lozoya who finished at 25:37.30min and placing herself individually in the top 50 of the field. Behind her was Itzela Darkenwald who finished just 2 spots back from Aubrey running a time of 25:42.80min. Finishing directly after Itzela was Liliana Sanchez who has set her WNMU personal best career 6K time at 25:44.80min. 
 
The men performed well this week even without Josh Lara and Jared Baca, who are both consistently strong contributors for the team. The men also ran tight at this meet as the top 3 racers were 43 seconds apart from each other. The one to lead the men's mustang team today was Rowan Flores (Española, NM/Los Alamos HS) who crossed the line at 26:13.20min. He was only 12 seconds from his career best 8K mark time which he set last season in Wichita Falls. Following Rowan was Aaron Perez (El Paso, TX/Eastwood HS) who placed himself in the top 30 with a time of 26:36.70min. Squeezing himself in the top 3 men's performances for the mustangs this week was Cody Hepker (Albuquerque, NM/Sandia HS), who ran a solid 26:56.70min time.
 
The men and women will continue their season on September 29^th as they prepare for the Cougar Challenge hosted in San Marcos, Cali hosted by Cal State San Marcos.