NMJC Women’s XC Finishes Runner-Up in Half-Marathon

The New Mexico Junior College women's cross country team finished runner-up in the NJCAA Women's Half-Marathon Championships at Miller's Landing Road in Tallahassee, Fla.

The half-marathon score is compiled from the top three finishers on the team. The T-Birds finished with a team total score of 23, just eight points behind the National Champion Iowa Central Tritons (15).

The runner-up finish was the best half-marathon finish in school history, eclipsing the fourth-place finish by the Thunderbird women in 2021.

"It was a great accomplishment for the women to pick up another national runner-up finish," head coach Jeff Becker said. "These young ladies have trained hard all year long and had great success."

Coach Becker said he was pleased with the team's performance given the difficulty that surrounds the half-marathon.  

"Training for the half-marathon is a lot different than training for the 5k and 8k in cross country," Becker said. "I think we handled the adjustments and distances well. However, you also have to factor in running the cross country race. You never know how a kid is going to recover with it just being three days after cross country nationals. I also felt like the course was challenging for us because of the hills that were on the course, where we are not used to training and running on hills."

Freshman Damaris Chewon was the top finisher for Thunderbirds in the NJCAA Women's Half-Marathon Championship coming in second place with a time of 1:27:29. Chewon's run is second all-time at NMJC for the half-marathon as she trails Flomena Asekol 1:20:36 record time set in 2019.

Faith Nyathi of El Paso finished in first place for the second consecutive year (1:19:59).

Freshman Carolyne Kimaiyo finished in ninth place running a time of 1:31:28 and sophomore Daisy Jerop placed 12th overall finishing in 1:32:58.

Sophomore Minankolo Magassa finished 27th as an individual with a time of 1:39:16.

Damaris Chewon (2nd) earned NJCAA All-American and USTFCCCA All-American honors for her performance in the NJCAA Half-Marathon Championships.

"I am proud of Damaris for earning NJCAA All-American honors and finishing second," Becker said. "She had a good run over the half-marathon course, and I am happy with how she was able to push through it."

Carolyne Kimaiyo (9th) and Daisy Jerop (12th) also earned USTFCCCA All-American honors for the runner-up Thunderbirds.

"Carolyne Kimaiyo and Daisy Jerop did a great job of earning USTFCCCA All-American honors," Becker said. "They both ran really well, especially Carolyne, who typically has not trained for this long of a distance, but for her to be able to come in and finish in the Top 10 was a phenomenal accomplishment."

Coach Becker said it is a bittersweet feeling finishing up the cross country season, but he is proud of what his teams have been able to accomplish throughout this historic season.

"Overall, we had a very successful trip to Florida for the nationals in cross country and in the half-marathon," Becker said. "These were top finishes for our programs. The women in cross country tied the best ever season with a second-place finish. The men had the best finish in cross country since we brought our team back. For both teams, their finish in the half-marathon was the best we ever had in school history. So, I think right now we are headed in the right direction with what we have been doing."