LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico State cross country teams saw much success during the 2017 season. Not only did the Aggie squads defeat Texas Tech and UTEP to take first place in a pair of regular-season meets, but the program's championship dreams became a reality during the postseason when the women's team claimed the 2017 Western Athletic Conference title.
 
Adding to the luster of the championship, NM State won the WAC crown on their home course. By winning the meet, the Aggies not only proved they were the best in the league, they also laid the groundwork for years to come, showing they would be a threat in the future.
 
"I felt like it was the first opportunity where we had a realistic chance at being able to win a championship," distance coach Joseph Rath said. "Any time, particularly in the WAC, when you host, you get a pretty significant advantage because the geography is so different at each school. I was able to get in my first recruiting class and give them a year to develop and so the plan of going into hosting the championship with that timeline gave us that one big advantage."
 
The foundation was set for a New Mexico State squad to claim a championship and the women's team did just that, but it wasn't easy. The Aggies were able to win the title by taking the tiebreaker over Utah Valley. NM State and UVU both scored 47 points, with the Wolverines actually posting a faster total and average time, but those times didn't matter.
 
For the tiebreaker, the top five runners went head-to-head with the better placed athlete taking the matchup. NM State claimed three of the five matchups, which was about as close as it could be. Crissey Amberg, Julia Yescas and Jess Dominguez were the three runners that beat out the UVU runners, placing second, fourth, and 10^th, respectively.
 
"It was crazy because it was a tie and the way the tie was broken was based on placement. It was literally the last 100 meters or so that everybody on our team just started passing the other teams and I really think that's how we won," Yescas said. "It was that last 100 meters and that can relate to how our season went. You know, we built up to that last 100 meters and that's where we let it all go."
 
The meet was a success all around with Amberg, Yescas and Dominguez receiving All-WAC honors. When it came to the WAC Women's Coach of the Year accolade, head coach Doug Reynolds felt it was fitting that if anyone from NM State was named coach of the year, it should be his assistant coach Rath.
 
"It was definitely surprising and it speaks a lot to Coach Reynolds as a person. He wants to make sure that people who have done a great job get the credit they deserve," Rath said. "I think the award itself is something that is shared between our coaching staff but it just kind of shows Doug's personality, who he is that he would go around telling all the other coaches to vote for me as opposed to himself because normally the overall head coach takes the award. He's a little more selfless in that way and I think it speaks to the staff overall that whoever's name goes up on something like that isn't as important as the fact that we all did it."
 
The award came as a shock for Rath, but if you asked his athletes, there was no doubt that he was most deserving of the honor.
 
"We were excited for him!" Yescas joyously said. "It was funny, we were like 'Coach are you crying?' because you could tell he was very emotional in that exact moment on that exact day. I think it was great for him because he saw us train, he saw us go through the injuries, he saw us struggle with academics and the pressure of being student-athletes. He was there with us every step so him actually winning coach of the year, I really think he deserved it."
 
With the championship still fresh on everyone's minds, NM State looks to carry its momentum into the 2018 season. Yescas and Dominguez return for the women's team and the Aggies added many fresh faces to the squad during the offseason.
 
"I feel like we definitely have a high standard now," Dominguez said. "We all have those expectations. We want to win again obviously, it's not something you win once and think that's it."
 
The women's championship last season has also provided a spark for the NM State men's team. All-WAC honorees from 2017 Aaron Valenzuela, Jose Silva, and Abel Ketema are set to compete again this season and the squad looks to rise to the top of the WAC following the program's best finish since 2009, third-place, last season.
 
"My expectations are to improve on last year. I don't want to step back, I want to keep moving forward. I'm using last year as a motivation," Valenzuela said. "This year, Coach [Rath] is really trying to focus on leadership. In the past, I haven't been the best leader. I sat back and let people do their thing, but I'm really trying to step up as a leader as a senior. I'm really trying to push these guys in the right direction, make sure everybody's focused, everybody's ready to work. It is my last year so I want to make it a good one."
 
A challenging slate awaits the cross country teams in 2018. Following the five regular-season meets, New Mexico State travels to Seattle for the WAC Championships on Oct. 27. The addition of California Baptist into the league also poses an obstacle for both teams, but it's a challenge the Aggies are willing to accept.
 
"For cross country on both the men and women's side, they definitely have a higher bar than they've had in the past," Rath said "I think it's getting them more excited too that the challenge of this conference is going to be harder than it's ever been. I think they're just excited to see themselves as faster athletes than they have been in the past and look across and expect greater things."
 
NM State starts the 2018 season at the Lobo Invitational where the team faces elite competition on Saturday, Sept. 1, in Albuquerque, N.M.