by: JOSHUA RAMIREZ/ Sports Editor
The South Plains College men’s and women’s cross country teams had a dominating performance at the New Mexico Junior College Open.
The teams were in Hobbs, N.M., on Oct. 9 to compete in the NMJC Open at Harry McAdams Park.
After a tough meet in Stillwater, Okla., running against NCAA Division I competition, the SPC men’s cross country team dominated the field at the NMJC Open, placing first overall in the team standings with a total time of 2:05:18. The men swept the first five spots in the individual standings, giving them a perfect score of 15 points.
Lubbock Christian University placed second in the team standings with 82 points and a total time of 2:15:19. Ranger College placed third at the meet with a score of 91 points.
Sophomore Hassan Abdi led the Texans once again, finishing the 8,000-meter course in a time of 23:51.2 and placing first overall at the meet.
The next Texan runner to complete the course was sophomore Kelvin Keter with a time of 25.08.4, placing second overall.
Just a few seconds behind Keter was freshman Nicholas Rotich with a time of 25:17.7, finishing third overall.
The final two runners to finish, completing the sweep for the Texans, were freshmen Deric Martinez and Jose Silva, with times of 25:28.5 and 25:32.6, respectively, and placing fourth and fifth overall.
The women’s cross country team returned to Hobbs for the second consecutive week to compete in the NMJC Open.
The SPC women placed fourth overall in the team standings with a score of 124 points, and a time of 1:45:58.
Eastern New Mexico placed first overall in the team standings with a time of 1:39:32 and a score of 42 points. Coming in second at the meet was host school New Mexico Junior College with a time of 1:42.46 and 85 points.
Lubbock Christian placed third as a team with a total of 86 points.
Freshman Sasha-Gay Whyte placed first for the Lady Texans for the second consecutive week, completing the 5,000-meter course with a time of 19:43.6 and placing sixth overall at the meet.
The next runner to finish for SPC was freshman Heather Maldonado, who finished 19th overall with a time of 20:41.2.
The next two women to finish for SPC were sophomore Kassidi Jones and freshman Megan Kinsey, with times of 21:23.2 and 21:43.2, respectively, finishing 28th and 31st overall.
The final runner to score was freshman Mya Perez, who posted a time of 22:27.2 and finishing 40th overall.
The men’s and women’s cross country teams were off for a week before competing on Oct. 24 at home in the South Plains College Invitational in Levelland.
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