Women's and Men's XC Take First in Lubbock
October 7, 2022

Women's and Men's XC Take First in Lubbock

The New Mexico Junior College women's and men's cross country teams won their respective races Friday morning in Lubbock, Texas at the Lubbock Christian Invitational.

The Thunderbird women cruised in the 5k race at Lubbock Christian with five runners finishing in the top six.

Freshman Damaris Chewon finished in first place for the fourth straight meet (18:07.20). The Kapsabet, Kenya native has won every cross country race she has competed in so far this year.

Sophomore runner Letlhogonolo Magoro finished in third place (18:47.00) improving from her last meet by 7.60 seconds, Daisy Jerop placed fourth overall with a time of 19:32.80, Joan Kimalel came in fifth (19:44.80), and Vanessa Gallegos rounded out the team scoring in sixth place (19:50.00) improving by 4.1 seconds compared to her last meet.

The Thunderbird women finished with a team score of 19 points, 21 points ahead of runner-up Lubbock Christian.  

"The women continue to run strong as a group," cross country head coach Jeff Becker said. "The way they group together is what is going to make us a strong team headed into the end of the season." 

 

The T-Bird men won their fourth straight meet Friday morning with the team recording a perfect score in the 8k race.

Freshman German Vega led the field in the men's 8k with a time of 24:49.50. The Argentinian has now won every collegiate race he has run in since his arrival in August.

Freshman Tomas Vega posted a second-place finish of 25:04.40, Evans Pololet placed third in the race with a time of 25:20.10, Chris Korir came in fourth place running a time of 25:59.30, and Alex Keter rounded out the team scoring in fifth place running for a time of 26:10.00.

The Thunderbird men finished with a perfect score of 15 points, 26 points in front of runner-up Lubbock Christian.

Coach Becker said he was most impressed with how his team's times are becoming more consistent.

"The men's time finished with a perfect score, which is always great," Becker said. "One thing I really liked from the guys was how our times got closer together. Alex Keter, who is our fifth runner, really closed the gap between him and Chris Korir, which is just what we needed."

"Overall, we ran really well today," Becker said. "This has been our third meet in a row and we have trained really hard to be able to go out and compete strong, today really shows well for both our teams." 

The Thunderbird women were ranked No. 3 overall in the Cross Country USTFCCCA NJCAA DI Coaches Poll. The T-Bird men also came in ranked No. 3 overall in the Cross Country USTFCCCA NJCAA DI Coaches Poll on Wednesday, Oct. 5.

Chewon was named NJCAA DI Women's Cross Country National Athlete of the Week for the second time this season with her performance on Friday morning. 

The Thunderbirds will host the NMJC Invitational II Friday, Oct. 14 in Hobbs, NM at Harry McAdams Park. The T-Bird women will run at 10 a.m. MDT in the 5k and the men will follow at 10:45 a.m. MDT in the 8k.