The Texas Tech men’s & women’s cross country teams paced to first & second place team finishes, respectively, on Thursday morning through the beautiful Rawls Course in Lubbock.
“Our objective was to come out here and see this course and try to do a racing strategy that we could mirror when we run here for the Big 12 Championship meet,” head coach Jon Murray said. “Both teams had some people that did really well and some that didn’t do it quite so well, but it’s a great lesson. We did not back down much in our training and times here aren’t as important as the strategy, being able to see the course, get on it, and have a positive race experience and for the majority of the kids we were able to accomplish that.”
The men’s team took home the top score after posting a total of 15 points, as they had three of the top five finishers, including race-winner Benard Keter. The senior from Nakuru, Kenya, led the field after the first mile and would carry that through the finish of the 8K at 26:24.90 for the victory. It’s the second-straight meet Keter has put up a first-place time.
Junior Miguel Bautista followed closely behind in third at 26:37.30, making it back-to-back meets he and Keter recorded the top two spots for the Red Raiders. Senior Nick Rivera posted a fifth-place finish at 27:06.60, followed by: Clark Blunt (27:16.00), Ebenether Wondaferew (27:40.40), Joacim Zuniga (27:40.70), Todd Mickey (27:48.60), Grant LaSelle (28:46.80) and Riley Gonzales (28:49.40).
The women’s team was just edged out of the top spot by Big 12 foe West Virginia, after Tech tallied 35 points in the 6K event. Senior Jocelyn Caro and junior Jasmine Torres led the Lady Raiders again this week, as Caro brought home third at 22:13.50, while Torres clocked in at 22:43.40 for fifth.
Freshman Danae Chapman also posted a top 10 time, crossing the tape at 23:01.70 for 10th-place. Following Chapman were: Lynda Hanson (23:23.50), Rianna Randolph (23:56.00), Maggy Mulholland (24:12.50), Bret Leigh Nance (24:18.50), Jessica Gallardo (24:32.80), Kaylee Amershek (25:08.30), Jade Greer (25:16.40), Lauren Younger (25:37.60), Natalie Parks (26:18.30), Lauren Schiller (26:21.00), Allison Halloran (26:30.40), Kassidi Jones (27:15.70) and Kate Halloran (27:36.30).
The Red Raiders have about a month away from competition before hitting the road for Fayetteville and the Chile Pepper Festival on Saturday, Oct. 1.
(COURTESY: Texas Tech Media Relations Department)