EL PASO, Texas – New Mexico State cross country competed in the Lori Fitzgerald Classic, hosted by UTEP, on Friday evening. The meet was held at Chamizal National Memorial Park.
 
"Even though the races were run at close to 90 degree weather, we had some athletes take advantage of the racing opportunity they got," said assistant coach Joseph Rath. "We raced a lot smarter in terms of our early paces, and the results were positive. Cori [Hanson] on the women's side and Aaron [Valenzuela] on the men's side did great jobs stepping up to lead us today. Now, we will turn our attention to our home meet, which will mark our first time this year running together as a full squad."
                               
In the men's 6k race, NM State finished in third with a team score of 57 points. Sophomore Aaron Valenzuela paced the Aggies, finishing ninth out of 21 runners with a time of 21:39.5. Next in was senior Marchez Coriz, who finished 13th with a time of 22:15.6. Senior Stephen Wallace came in in 14th place with a time of 22:23.7. Junior Daniel Gonzalez finished in 17th with a time of 23:09.6. Freshman Niles Thomas rounded out the Aggie runners with a time of 24:22.4 in 19th place.
 
In the women's 5k race, NM State finished third with a team score of 69 points. Freshman Corinne Hanson led the Aggies, finishing 10th out of 20 runners with a time of 18:58.9. Next in was freshman Leah Salazar, who finished in 12th place with a time of 19:24.5. Sophomore Regina Marquez finished in 14th place with a time of 19:31.3. Freshman Sydney Aguilera finished 15th with a time of 20:01.8. Junior Jacqueline DuBois rounded out the Aggie squad with a time of 21:26.0.
 
NM State will be back in action on Sept. 17 as they host the annual Kachina Classic Open at the NM State Track and Intramural Fields.