Pueblo, Colorado - The NMHU Cross Country teams were in Pueblo on Saturday for the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Championships where sophomore
Weldon Chebon captured the men's individual championship.
Chebon finished the 10k course on the Walking Stick Golf Course in 29:44.9, besting the second place finisher by nearly ten seconds. He becomes the second NMHU runner to capture the Regional Championship joining Laurent Ngrikamaro who did it in 2007.
"What a race by Weldon," said head coach
Bob DeVries. "He learned from the way RMAC played out, stayed patient and made a decisive move with a mile to go to break away."
James Kurui placed 31st in a time of 31:28.4 followed by
Xavier Martinez (32:33.7) who placed 69th. Freshmen
MackDonald Kiprop (34:24.4) and
Jude Martinez (38:53.2) rounded out the NMHU point scorers.
"I can't say enough about
James Kurui," said DeVries. "He battled a foot injury all season, spent a month in the pool and nearly pulled off a spot at nationals. James bleeds purple when he puts on the HU jersey. And
Xavier Martinez finished his freshman season with a great performance that nearly put us in the top ten."
On the men's 11th place finish Saturday DeVries said, "This is the first time all year we had all our top six men racing together. There were eight nationally ranked teams running - placing 11th is a very good day for our men."
Freshman
Taylor Begay was the top Cowgirl in the Women's 6k finishing 57th in a time of 23:39.5. She was followed by
Summer Abeyta who went 22:48.2 to finish 68th.
Hailey Renteria (24:26.9),
Harlee Jaramillo (26:39.9), and Aaliyah Maria (26:26.8) rounded out the women's point scores on Saturday.
"
Taylor Begay ran her best race of the season and
Summer Abeyta and
Hailey Renteria both raced faster than they had at the regional preview," commented DeVries. "That's all you can ask in a championship race."
Freshman
Joan Kuyo was unable to finish the race due to injury. "Joan being forced to drop out was a huge blow to our goal of a top 15 finish, but I'm extremely proud and excited by the way our young runners stepped up," said DeVries.
