SPC Cross Country Begins At ACU

September 6, 2008

ABILENE - The South Plains College cross country team started the 2008 season with a strong showing at the ACU Cross Country Classic at Sherrod Park in Abilene.

The South Plains men finished second with 33 points. Abilene Christian, the No. 1 ranked team in the nation in NCAA Division II, was first with 22 points. West Texas A&M placed third with 90.

For the SPC men, sophomore Fred Samoei placed second in the 4-mile race with a time of 19:02.09. Also in the top 10 was freshman Tallum Kipruto in fourth (19:19.97), sophomore Javier Perez in eighth (20:34.94), sophomore Mitchell Driver in ninth (20:52.08) and freshman Anthony Pequeno in tenth (20:54.46).

Also for South Plains, Cole Hoffman placed 11th (21:39.53), Robert Castanon was 14th (22:12.89), Derek Brest was 35th (24:07.55) and Blake Rothbard was 36th (24:21.70).

The SPC women only ran four athletes, so they weren't eligible for the team championship.
Sophomore Gladys Chumba led the Lady Texas with a fourth-place finish in the 3-mile race with a time of 19:07.52. Also for SPC, Meagan Willingham was 13th (20:47.45), Lorianne Pattee was 15th (20:51.91) and Shayla Contreras was 19th (21:23.43).