Lubbock, Texas - The New Mexico Highlands cross country teams competed Friday morning at the Texas Tech Open in Lubbock, Texas.
The Cowboys took 6th place out of 15Â teams. All five programs finishing ahead of NMHU hold national rankings in their respective divisions:
- West Texas A&M (#8 D2)
- Odessa JC (#2 JUCO)
- Fort Lewis (#12 D2)
- NMJC (#5 JUCO)
- Colorado Christian (#13 D2)
James Kurui led the Cowboys with a 14th-place finish, followed by Weldon Chebon in 17th. Head Coach Bob DeVries noted that while the gap between the top two and the 3-4-5 runners was wider than ideal heading into Regionals on the same course in two months, the team showed strong individual progress.
"Xavier ran 30 seconds faster than last year, and James was also faster," DeVries said. "Weldon needs to keep regaining fitness, and Lawrence and Josh need to be closer to Xavier, but the potential is there to be very strong back here in a couple of months."
NMHU Men's Finishers:
The Cowgirls placed 11th overall. Up front, Joan Kuyo (31st) and Maria Roybal (34th) delivered steady tactical runs.
"Neither Joan nor Maria got passed in the race - they moved up the whole way," DeVries noted. "Now we need to work on being a little more confident at the start and placing ourselves in better position early to move forward."
Monica Kalua placed 74th, while Harlee Jaramillo showed significant growth, improving her time on the Lubbock course by over a minute and a half compared to last season.
The Cowgirls finished 20 points behind Western New Mexico. NMHU will host WNMU next Friday at the HUÂ XC Jam/NM Small Schools Challenge, aiming to turn the result around on their home course.
Both men and women run Friday, Sept.25 at the Gene Torres Golf Course. Racing begins with the men at 3pm followed immediately by the women.
FULL RESULTS FROM TEXAS TECH
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