SUNNYVALE, Calif. – The New Mexico State men's and women's cross country teams competed in the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational at Baylands Regional Park on Saturday. The men's team placed eighth while the women's team took ninth.
 
"The meet was great for it being our last meet before conference," assistant coach Joseph Rath said. "It was a more competitive field compared to last season and both sides took advantage of the tough competition by really pushing themselves."
 
In the men's 8k race, Abel Ketema clocked in first for the Aggies, recording a time of 24:20.4 for 23^rd place. Jose Silva followed closely behind in 26^th place, clocking in at 24:25.4. Senior Eli Kosgei placed 38^th in the race, finishing with a time of 24:37.7. Aaron Valenzuela (25:04.3) and Jereme Santistevan (25:17.6) took home 75^th and 89^th place, respectively.
 
For the women's team, Crissey Amberg was the top finisher, posting a time of 20:58.9 for 20^th place in the 6k race. Sophomore Julia Yescas was the next to clock in, finishing with a time of 21:11.3 for 28^th place. Freshman Jess Dominguez placed 51^st with a time of 21:36.6 while Elana Kresl posted a time of 22:07.1 for 78^th. Corinne Hanson was the fifth Aggie to clock in as she recorded a time of 22:08.0 for 80^th place.
 
"Both teams ran a faster team average than last year. Although we had a few mistakes during the race, both sides had breakthroughs," Rath said. "We have a number of positives we can emphasize and mistakes we can fix heading into our championship season."
 
NM State returns home for its next meet as the Aggies host the Western Athletic Conference Cross Country Championship on Oct. 28^th at the NMSU Golf Course in Las Cruces, N.M.