Men's XC Finishes Fifth at Nationals
The New Mexico Junior College men's cross country team finished the season at the Cross Country Championships in fifth place with a team score of 146. Colby Community College won the 8k race with 38 points and four runners finishing in the Top 10.
Freshman Tomas Vega was the top finisher for the T-Birds placing ninth in the men's 8k with a time of 25:04.90. Sanele Masondo of Colby won the 8k race finishing in 24:07.20.
Freshman German Vega registered a 13th-place finish of 25:21.10, sophomore Evans Pololet placed 16th in the race with a time of 25:27.30, sophomore Chris Korir came in 34th place running a time of 26:20.10, and sophomore David Hernandez rounded out the team scoring in 79th place finishing in 28:17.50.
Head coach Jeff Becker knew it would be an uphill battle for the T-Birds at the national meet after the No. 5 runner Alex Keter went down with a leg fracture at the regional meet.
"The men's team finished 5th; we knew it was going to be a battle," Becker said. I'm very proud of how they raced, they battled through some tough conditions and all five of them ran well. David Hernandez stepped in and was our No. 5. He really battled strong and moved up at least 20-25 positions in the race to help us secure fifth place."
The Thunderbirds have been led by the Argentinian twins, Tomas and German Vega, all year and it was no different Saturday morning.
"Tomas and German ran great races earning NJCAA All-American honors," Becker said. "They are the first two NJCAA All-Americans that we have had since bringing the men's team back. German could have finished higher had he not developed a painful blister midway through the race."
A runner must finish in the Top 15 to be named an NJCAA All-American with Tomas and German coming in ninth and 13th place respectively.
"Evans and Chris ran great; Evans will be a Coach's Association All-American as he finished in 16th place. Evans is primarily an 800-1500 meter runner on the track, so for him to come and do that is fantastic. Overall, I felt like the men had a good season and they battled tough."
Coach Becker was happy with how both teams finished their seasons after navigating through adversity throughout the year.
"The 2022 cross country season was outstanding for us, we really built off of what we had last year and just overall for the men and women," Becker said. "The women only lost to two teams all year long, the College of Southern Idaho at nationals and West Texas A&M which is a division II school who is nationally ranked. The guys were just as impressive; they didn't lose anything up until regionals and the national meet. Overall, just an outstanding year for our Thunderbird cross country teams."
The season is not finished yet. NMJC will have runners competing in the NJCAA Half-Marathon on Tuesday, Nov. 15 in Tallahassee, Fla.
"We'll be running the NJCAA Half-Marathon Championship on Tuesday, and we're excited to run these," Becker said. The way we showed out at the cross country championships should carry over to this half-marathon."
"I think both teams have a great chance to place really high as a team and for us to also be able to pick up some All-American honors in the half-marathon race as well."
