The New Mexico Highlands University Men's and Women's cross country teams travel to Lubbock, TX this weekend for the Texas Tech Open on Saturday morning Sept. 4. The HU squads will race for the first time since November 2019 and team member Collins Kurui says he and his teammates are "ready to race again!"
As with other fall sports at NMHU, the 2020 season ended abruptly without a single competition due to Covid-19 circumstances. While many of the XC athletes were able to race during the 2021 outdoor track season, coach
Bob DeVries notes a heightened energy and enthusiasm as his squads prepare to get back to cross country racing, "Cross country is a whole different animal than racing on the track, the team aspect is ramped up, the courses are challenging, everyone is training for the same event and, to be honest, suffering together."
DeVries, who enters his 30
th year leading the HU cross program, sees a lot to be excited about in the 2021 group. "We have much more quality depth on both teams," noted DeVries, "Our returners are in great shape and the freshmen are surprising me every day in practice."
Leading the returners for the men are Andrew Amor and Collins Kurui. Amor was just a couple seconds out of the top 25 in the powerful RMAC Championship as freshman in 2019 and was just seconds off an NCAA qualifying mark in the 10k on the track last spring. Kurui, who was an NCAA All American in 2016, returns for a final season as a graduate student after breaking his femur in 2018 and having his senior season ended by the pandemic. Also back is John Hall who made dramatic improvements on the track during the spring and put in a great summer of training, according to the coaches.
Adding depth to the squad are four freshmen from Rio Rancho, NM—Tim Martinez, Nathias Rael, Gabe Gonzales and Sergio Ramos— "We picked up four men from two different schools, but they have all raced and trained together and are showing real potential for the fall, said DeVries. Martinez and Rael were each All-State runners in both cross country and track at Rio Rancho HS and Cleveland HS. Gonzales is the son of former Highlands runner and current Rio Rancho head coach Sal Gonzales who ran for DeVries in the mid 90's.
The women's squad will depend on four returners to make up the nucleus of the '21 pack.
Faith Lovato is another Rio Rancho grad who qualified for the RMAC outdoor track championships in the 1500 and has been the leader in early workouts. "Faith is speedy," noted DeVries, "We are working on building strength and tempo for cross country racing."
Nieves Pacheco,
Anabella Miller and
Mia Vigil are solid returners for the HU women. All three set huge personal bests during the '21 track season, with Miller setting a new school record in the steeplechase. Also back are
Jackie Gamez and Xochi Ramos-Gonzales.
Finding a fifth runner has been the focus of early season work according to DeVries. 'We've got a little separation from four to five and we need someone to step up to that challenge," said the long-time coach.
Jewels Leslie was the 2019 New Mexico 3A state champion in cross country while at Wingate HS.
Faith Jebet is a newcomer from Kenya with good credentials while
Welana Sanchez and
Abigail Serna are all looking at their first college race this Saturday.
Results and meet info available at:
Texas Tech Red Raiders - Official Athletics Website
