T-Bird Men and Women Finish First in JC Competition

The New Mexico Junior College men's cross country team won the NMJC Invitational II Friday morning in Hobbs. The women's cross country team came in second place in the meet behind DII West Texas A&M, but first in junior college competition. 

The T-Bird men won their fifth straight meet Friday morning with the team recording a team score of 29 in the 8k race. The team dominated the course, beating No. 5 El Paso CC by 16 points.

Freshman German Vega had the highest finish for the T-birds coming in second place in the men's 8k with a time of 23:56.30. This is the first meet Vega has run in where he did not finish in first place.

Freshman Tomas Vega registered a third-place finish of 24:02.50, Evans Pololet placed fourth in the race with a time of 24:08.30, Chris Korir came in seventh place running a time of 24:24.30, and Alex Keter rounded out the team scoring in 13th place running with a time of 25:24.80.

Four of the five runners ran a career-best race on Friday with the exception of German Vega. Keter, Pololet, and Korir improved their times by more than 50 seconds compared to when they raced last month at the NMJC Invitational. 

Head coach Jeff Becker was happy with the poise the men displayed against the strong competition at the NMJC Invitational II. 

"The men came out in first place with another win," Becker said. "They've won every meet so far this year. El Paso was ranked No. 5 in the junior college rankings and West Texas A&M was ranked in the NCAA Division II rankings, so for the guys to win it was huge for us."

The Thunderbird women faced a stacked competition on Friday. The T-Birds raced against nationally ranked Division II West Texas A&M and NJCAA No. 4 El Paso CC. 

NMJC came in second place after West Texas A&M edged the Thunderbirds by 13 points. The T-Bird women finished with a team total score of 43, which was 39 points better than fellow junior college competitor El Paso. 

Freshman Damaris Chewon finished in third place (18:30.80). Sophomore runner Letlhogonolo Magoro finished in seventh place (19:27.10), Vanessa Gallegos placed 11th with a time of 20:04.00, Carolyne Kimaiyo came in 12th (20:08.80), and Daisy Jerop rounded out the team scoring in 13th (20:10.90).

Coach Becker was impressed with the level of competition that the women faced on Friday morning as well.

"The women finished 2nd overall in the meet only losing to West Texas A&M who is ranked in the NCAA Division II," Becker said. "I was ok with that, we competed well against the No. 4 ranked junior team in El Paso and were able to beat them pretty easily so that was a great accomplishment."

The strong competition couldn't have come at a better time Becker said.

"This was definitely the meet we needed," Becker said. "The meet helped us prepare not only physically but also somewhat emotionally with how to deal with the next two races coming up (Region V Championship and National Championship)."

NMJC fans have a lot to look forward to over the next month as the T-Birds eye bringing home some postseason hardware.

"Both teams looked good coming into the Region V Championship," Becker said. "I think we'll be favored on both sides coming in. The men won last year and are trying to repeat again. The women finished second last year and are looking for their first ever Region V Championship. We are excited to see how our teams finish in the postseason this year." 

The T-Birds will be back in action in two weeks as they host the Region V Championships Saturday, Oct. 29 in Hobbs, NM at Harry McAdams Park. 

The T-Bird women will run at 10:15 a.m. MDT in the 5k and the men will follow at 11:15 a.m. MDT in the 8k.