Bifa Wins 3rd Meet of the Season, WXC Places 1st

Yididiya Bifa won her third race of the season at the NMJC Dr. Steve McCleery Invitational 5k to remain undefeated so far this year.

The Thunderbirds were the top team in the field finishing in first place with 32 points, Ranger was second with 41 points, and Angelo State was third at 86 points. The women's team has won two meets so far this season. 

Lynda McCleery, the wife of the late Dr. Steve McCleery, was the honorary starter for the meet shooting the gun to mark the start of the race on Friday, Sept. 26.

"It just worked out to be a perfect day," NMJC women's cross country head coach Jeff Becker said. "Lynda, Dr. McCleery's wife, came out there as a starter and that was just a such a great honor to have her there and just be able to celebrate what Dr. McCleery has done for NMJC and everything. I thought it was perfect day."

Bifa dominated the race for NMJC crossing the line 39 second in front of the next competitor with a time of 17:43.20. She has now won the WTC Open, Lori Fitzgerald Open, and the NMJC Dr. Steve McCleery Invitational this season.

"Yididiya ran really well at our first home meet. I know her fitness levels are there," Becker said. "I didn't think that maybe she was running that fast without having somebody to push her. I think that was the third-fastest time ever on that course. She thought she didn't run very well because she didn't run the time she ran at New Mexico State, but she had more competition there, and their course is just a little bit faster than ours because the grass isn't as thick."

Sophomore Ines Mrabet was the second runner to finish for NMJC placing third with a time of 18:31.50. Mrabet's time was 36 seconds faster than what she ran in the same race last year. Amal Kachouri came in fourth place with a time of 18:42.40 which was 14 seconds better than her 2024 time.

Hadil Chiha had a great race on Friday running a 19:44.90 to place 11th. Chiha was a huge improvement from this time last year running 1:28 faster than in 2024.

"It's always exciting to see the improvement from freshman to sophomore," Coach Becker said. "Some of it is the overall fitness level. Some of it is just being adjusted to the new to the program. So, a lot of that helps being adjusted to the new program and seeing the better times. I was happy with all three, Ines, Amal, and Hadil of them. Really happy with Hadil and the way she ran, obviously, with that big improvement. Hopefully she can solidify herself as maybe that number five that we're looking for."

Sophomore Lindsey Lopes was the final runner for NMJC on Friday morning. Lopes ran a 20:50.00 to finish in 15th place.

Lisel Ndlovu and Alejandra Sierra both sat out due to injury this week. Elsa Gueret started the race but did not finish.

The T-Birds maintained third place in the USTFCCCA Week 2 Coaches Poll.

The T-Birds travel down the road to the inaugural ENMU Inn of the Mountain Gods Open Friday, Oct. 3 at 11 a.m. MDT in Ruidoso, NM.