LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico State men's and women's cross country teams head to El Paso, Texas, for the UTEP Lori Fitzgerald Open on Friday, Sept. 8.
 
"The Lori Fitzgerald gives our younger athletes a chance to compete in another lower-key meet in this early part of the season," assistant coach Joseph Rath said. "Most of our experienced athletes will rest and work towards our home meet."
 
The Aggies were split for the opening weekend of competition. The NM State men's and women's teams started the season with a win over Texas Tech in a head-to-head meet between the squads. The women's team defeated TTU 15-47 while the men's team topped the Red Raiders 24-31. Seniors Crissey Amberg and Eli Kosgei placed first among all competitors.
 
Following the meet against TTU, the Aggies raced at the Lobo Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M. The women's squad placed second and the men's team came in fourth. The top finishers for NM State were Nichole Gomez, who placed 14^th and Dylan Godfrey who came in 19^th.
 
"The biggest goals for this meet is to correct some of the warm-up preparation and in-race execution for our younger athletes," Rath said. "It will be pretty warm at race time; so we will make some adjustments to handle the heat better." 
 
NM State competes in the Lori Fitzgerald Open held at the Chamizal Memorial National Park on Friday with the men's 6.4k race starting at 5:30 p.m. (MT) followed by the women's 4.7k race at 6:15 p.m. The Chamizal National Memorial Park course is spectator friendly and the surface is 80% dirt and 20% grass.