SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The New Mexico State men's and women's cross country teams competed at the Capital Cross Challenge in Sacramento, Calif. on Saturday. The men's team finished in seventh in the 8k race while the women's team ran a 6k race, also placing seventh.
"Both sides handled the 8k and 6k distances well. It certainly warmed up a bit for the college races, but we did well to finish strong even with the warmer morning weather," assistant coach
Joseph Rath said.
On the men's side,
Abel Ketema took the top spot for NM State, placing 12th with a time of 24:41.8.
Jose Silva was the next Aggie to finish, posting a time of 24:52.1 for 22nd.
Aaron Valenzuela (25:23.2) and
Jereme Santistevan (25:42.0) were the next to clock in for New Mexico State.
James McLain (26:28.0) and
Dylan Godfrey (27:46.3) rounded out the men's team.
"Abel [Ketema] and Jose [Silva] in particular did a great job moving up 10-15 spots each over the last mile," Rath said. "With Eli [Kosgei] sick, it was up to James [McLain] to step up and run well for his first 8k race. He managed to handle the distance very well for his first time."
For the women's team,
Crissey Amberg was the top finisher for New Mexico State, clocking in at 21:24.1 for 13th place.
Julia Yescas was the next racer to finish for NM State, posting a time of 21:46.2 for 29th place.
Stephanie Quintero recorded a time of 22:06.1 to place 43rd.
Cassey Amberg placed 50th in the race when she finished with a time of 22:16.5
"On the women's side, we had a lot of work to do from the back of the race as the boxes for teams only allowed two across and we had 12 athletes start. However, they managed to move up very well, literally passing hundreds of runners throughout the race," Rath said. "Crissey [Amberg] did well to lead us in the top-15. Our middle distance runner Julia [Yescas] continues to impress in cross country and did well to place in the top-30. It was also great to see Cassey [Amberg] and Stephanie [Quintero] bounce back after a tougher go at our home meet."
NM State returns to action on Oct. 14 when the Aggies travel to Sunnyvale Calif., for the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational.
