T-Bird MXC Prepares for NJCAA Championships
The New Mexico Junior College men's cross country team will compete in the NJCAA DI Cross Country Championships Saturday, Nov. 11 at 9:30 a.m. CDT. The 8k race is hosted at John Hunt Park in Huntsville, Ala.
"The course was really nice," men's cross country head coach Jeff Becker said. "We had heard good things about it leading up to today and I think after seeing the course it is suitable to both of our teams."
The Thunderbirds head into the meet ranked No. 1 in the country according to the USTFCCA Coaches' Poll. The T-Birds are aiming to win their second cross country national championship on Saturday. The last time the T-Birds won the men's cross country championship was in 1979. The men finished in fifth place during last year's cross country championship in Tallahassee, Fla.
NMJC has been in great form throughout the season with six victories and one runner-up at the Texas Tech Open. The Thunderbirds last meet produced an individual title by Tomas Vega with a course record and school-record time of 23:04.80. The team also won the Region V Championship by taking down Hill College by 37 points.
Leading the way for the T-Birds will be sophomore Tomas Vega. Tomas has five wins so far this year and was named the 2023 Cross Country West Region Athlete of the Year on Friday, Nov. 10. Tomas finished in ninth place last season with a time of 25:04.90 at the 2022 Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Fla.
German Vega will be right behind his brother Tomas as the No. 2 runner for NMJC. German has four runner-up finishes thus far and one win. Vega is hoping for a better performance in this year's nationals after he battled a nasty blister in last season's Cross Country Championships. In Tallahassee, Vega came in 13th place with a time of 25:21.10.
"Obviously we will be led by Tomas and German. They have led us all year long," head coach Jeff Becker said. "I don't see any reason why they won't be right up at the top there for us."
Alex Keter will compete in his first cross country championship here in Huntsville, Ala. Keter missed last year's race following a fractured foot in regionals that left him in crutches during the meet.
The last sophomore on the list, Marc Pauvert, sat out the 2022 fall cross country and did not participate at nationals in Tallahassee, Fla. Freshmen Wilson Navarrete, Paul Maurer, and Cyprien Bille are three newcomers this year that will look to make an impact during Saturday's race.
"Wilson has worked through some ups and downs for us, but I think he is ready to go," Becker said. "I could say the same for Alex and Marc; they have been up and down throughout the year."
"Paul has been very steady so far this year and he could be anywhere between runner four and six on our team and then Cyprien will be our seventh and final runner on the course," Becker said.
The Thunderbirds have seven total runners in the meet. Teams are only allowed to compete with seven runners at nationals and just five runners will count toward your team score.
The cross country national championship has eluded Coach Becker throughout his coaching career. This year he hopes to end that streak.
"It's tough to win a national championship," Becker said. "In years past, I've thought that we have had great teams here at New Mexico Junior College that have had the chance to win. It's not easy to win a national championship in any sport and so I think that it's gonna take us doing what we have done all year, but also it takes a little luck for everyone to have the right day. We are prepared but I still believe that we will need a few things to go our direction in order to come home with a trophy."
Coach Becker swept the men's and women's West Region Coach of the Year awards on Friday night. This marks back-to-back years Coach Becker has won the women's West Region Coach of the Year.
The T-Birds will compete for a national title Saturday, Nov. 11 at 9:30 a.m. CDT in Huntsville, Ala. at John Hunt Park. The race will not be streamed. There will be live timing, which will be located here.
"I think we have a really good shot at performing well tomorrow," Becker said. "There's a handful of good teams but I think we are just as good as any of them. If we go out and run like we have all year, we should be successful."
