The New Mexico Highlands University men's and women's cross country team took on a tough task Saturday morning as they raced for the first time in two years at the loaded Texas Tech Open in Lubbock, TX. The meet featured two DI squads as well as nationally ranked NCAA DII, NAIA and JUCO programs among the fourteen schools entered in the race.
Andrew Amor (4th/19:53) led the men to a fourth place finish over the four- mile course. West Texas AM (ranked #7 nationally), Texas Tech and UTEP were the only teams ahead of the HU men.Â
WTAM- 60
Texas Tech- 76
UTEP- 76
NMHU- 97
Collins Kurui (12th/20:24) returned to the Cowboy line-up for the first time in three seasons after suffering a broken femur in 2017. "I cannot tell you how exciting it was to see Collins racing again," said HU coach
Bob DeVries, "He looked amazing today."
Freshmen Benard Kipruto (26th/20:49) and Nathias Rael (27th/20:51) were also impressive in their Cowboy debuts while sophomore
John Hall (28th/21:05) completed the HU scoring.
"We've got a strong group of men, Andrew's raced tough up with the leaders and we had a solid pack behind him," noted DeVries.
Nieves Pacheco (22nd/19:53) led the women's pack on Saturday. The race marked Pacheco's first sub-20 minute 5k and the first time the Las Vegas Robertson grad was the top Cowgirl finisher.
Faith Lovato(29th/20:27), Anabella Miller (37th/20:50) and Jewels Leslie (48th/21:29) were next for the Cowgirls as the top four HU women were each New Mexico natives.
"We are really committed to recruiting and developing New Mexico runners. This group is just going to keep getting fitter and faster," said DeVries.
The cross country squads travel to Colorado Springs, CO on September 11 for the Ted Castaneda Classic hosted by Colorado College. Race time is 10am at Monument Valley Park.
Full results available at
https://texastech.com/sports/cross-country
