Las Cruces, New Mexico - The New Mexico Highlands cross country teams officially opened their season Saturday morning in Las Cruces at the New Mexico State Art Morgan Classic Open.
Openers are always a mix of good and bad, but the primary goal was simple: get a baseline and see where the program stands with two months to go before the championship meets that matter.
Women's Race: Patient Packing & Mid-Race Moves
The women's race provided an early lesson in execution - and perhaps taking coaching instructions a bit too literally.
"I asked the women to be conservative at the start, and they took me very seriously - everyone was sitting in the bottom 15 at the 400-meter mark," Head Coach Bob DeVries said.
Despite the slow start, Joan Kuyo and Maria Roybal did a really good job picking through the field over the rest of the race to lead the team up front.
Monica Kalua was running right alongside Kuyo and Roybal and looking strong until she lost a shoe halfway through the course, causing her to fall back.Â
Even with the footwear mishap, the Cowgirls' top three "look very solid," noted DeVriesÂ
Harlee Jaramillo showed huge progress on the course, improving her time from this race last year by over a full minute.
"We clearly have some work to do at the #4 and #5 spots, but the foundation is there," DeVries noted.
Men's Race: New Mexico Pack Steps Up
On the men's side, the Cowboys put together a mixed outing, and the team leaves Las Cruces knowing they can fight harder at the front.
"I thought we could have battled a little bit better right at the front of the pack," DeVries said. "James Kurui put together a smart race, moving up steadily throughout the day to finish as our top runner. Weldon Chebon is still working his way back into peak fitness, but it's a long season, so there's no concern there."
The standout takeaway for the Cowboys was the effort from the local New Mexico runners holding down the middle of the lineup.
"Our New Mexico guys at 3 (Xavier Martinez), 4 (Lawrence Ragland), and 5 (Josh Mastrantoni) really impressed me," DeVries added. "Josh especially - he was primarily an 800m runner in high school, so seeing him that close to Xavier and Lawrence is very encouraging."
Having Mastrantoni bridge that gap so quickly provides much-needed depth. The Cowboys also look forward to strengthening their front-five rotation even further when Kelvin Kogei joins the racing lineup in a couple of weeks.
Both teams are back in action in two weeks at the Texas Tech Open. They race will be a preview of the Regional championship course in late November.Â
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