Texans win NMJC cross country open, Lady Texans second
HOBBS, N.M. – The NJCAA third-ranked Texan cross country team scored 26 points Saturday at the New Mexico JC Cross Country Open held at Harry McAdams Park in Hobbs, edging conference foe and sixth-ranked El Paso in the process while the third-ranked Lady Texans were nicked in the team standings by the No. 5-ranked El Paso women to finish second with 39 points.
South Plains' Antibahs Kibiwott came out on the winning end of a three-man race that also included teammate Jose Martinez. Kibiwott outdueled El Paso's Ricardo De Santiago with a winning time of 25 minutes, 6.16 seconds. Martinez was slightly behind the top two, finishing third in 25:08.26.
Sophomore Cordaryl Whitehead turned in his best performance of the season, finishing sixth overall with a season best time of 25:27.32. Colton Hollis, who finished eighth in 25:54.22, joined Whitehead in the top-10.
Michael Waller (26:20.74) was SPC's final scoring runner at 11th overall.
Sophomore Desreen Montague led the Lady Texans with a second place finish, crossing the line with a time of 19:21.30.
Atara Segree and J'Cee Holmes also finished in the top 10. Segree (20:18.27) was sixth and Holmes (20:22.90) was not far behind in seventh.
Maddie Kauffman (21:09.08) and Brittany Letts (21:25.93) rounded out the team scoring with 12th and 14th place finishes, respectively.
Following three consecutive weeks of competition, the SPC cross country teams will enjoy a weekend away from competition before returning to action Saturday, Oct. 26 when the Texans and Lady Texans host the Region 5 cross country championship at Brashear Lake Park. On Nov. 9, the cross country teams will travel to Fort Dodge, Iowa for the NJCAA cross country championships.