Final Results (men) | Final Results (women)

TUCSON, Ariz. - Richelle Sandin and Cole Shugart both registered top-five finishes and the NM State men's and women's cross country teams put forth excellent showings Friday morning at the Dave Murray Invitational.

Racing at the Rolling Hills Golf Club, each Aggie team finished better than various Pac-12 programs in attendance and continued their respective upward trends in anticipation of the WAC Championship at the end of the month.

WOMEN'S RACE (6K)
• Led by Richelle Sandin's second-best six-kilometer performance of her career, the Aggies claimed a third-place finish in a five-team field comprised almost entirely of Pac-12 and Mountain West programs.
• NM State amassed 69 team points, finishing behind Dave Murray Invitational winner Arizona (45 points) and San Diego State (51 points). The Aggies bested the Pac-12's Arizona State (fourth place, 73 points) as well as WAC foe Grand Canyon (fifth place, 100 points).
• In 22nd place and eight seconds behind the leader at the first split, Sandin kicked things into high gear from there. Racing in her home town, the senior out of Tucson, Ariz., shot up 18 spots to fourth place at the second split and improved another two spots at the finish. Her runner-up time of 21:10.7 led the NM State contingent and she was second only to Arizona's Grace Driskill (21:01.5).
• Not far behind Sandin was Emily Stutesman who secured her second top-10 finish in as many events this season. Stutesman covered the course in a time of 21:52.2 to finish in sixth place.
• In all, four of the six NM State competitors finished in the top half of the 40-woman field. Thulisile Amon used a strong final leg to cross the finish line in 14th-place (22:11.4) while her sister, Thobile Amon, was clocked in a time of 22:25.4 to finish 20th.
• Mia Regan (28th place, 22:57.2) and Kayla O'Connell (33rd place, 23:39.4) rounded out the NM State contingent of runners at the event.

MEN'S RACE (8K)
• With just three teams and another four unattached runners, the men's race may have been less attended but it wasn't any less competitive.
• Graduate student Cole Shugart stayed near the pace-setting pack for the entire race and worked his way to a fourth-place finish in a time of 24:44.0. That represented Shugart's first top-five finish in an NM State uniform.
• Including Shugart's top-five performance, a quartet of Aggies finished in the upper-half of the 30-man field. Running right with Shugart in the lead group the whole morning was Anekin Hetman who generated his second top-ten finish in as many meets this season. Hetman completed the eight-kilometer course in a seventh-place time of 24:55.8. Micah Too narrowly missed out on a top-ten finish in Tucson as he was clocked in a time of 25:27.6. That was good for an 11th-place finish for Too.
• Matt Goddard conjured up a top-half finish as well and the third Aggie to cross the finish line posted a time of 25:53.7 along the course to finish 14th.
• The final three point producers for the Aggies were Nick Ortiz (17th place, 26:26.5), Anthony Molina (19th place, 26:29.9) and Pedro Espinoza (26:30.8).
• Rounding out the Aggies' nine-man group at the Davy Murray Invitational was Zack Wilcox (24th place, 27:44.7) and Jacob Grosch (25th place, 28:18.7).
• Arizona State (26 points) took home the team title while the Aggies (second place, 45 points) bested host institution Arizona (third place, 54 points).

COMING UP NEXT
• The next destination for the NM State cross country teams is Riverside, Calif., where the Aggies are set to take part in UC Riverside's Highlander Invitational. The meet is set for Saturday, Oct. 16, with a 9:00 a.m. start time for the women's race and a 9:45 a.m. start time for the men's race.

QUOTABLE | NM STATE CROSS COUNTRY HEAD COACH JOSEPH RATH
On the race | "We've had a few people come down with sinus infections, so we had to readjust who was going to be out there for us. Richelle obviously had a really good day and we had a number of other student-athletes who were out there fighting through illnesses. From a results standpoint there wasn't anything unexpected that happened today and it was nice to beat a Pac-12 school on both sides. People aren't as wrapped up on a win-loss record with us, but to see how our training has paid off is rewarding."
 
On the men's team | "We knew that this year was going to be completely different from the previous year. There's just a whole new energy about this team and it's people like Cole {Shugart] and Micah [Too] who have been helping us out in that way. Between them and others, there has just been a much better tone set for everything that we do. Overall this group is so much more fun and motivated. That makes it exciting to coach them."
 
On the women's team | "Our team is a bit smaller than it has been in years past after we lost some key seniors. Watching our underclassmen grow into different leadership roles has been fun. Having Grand Canyon competing in this event helped us see where we stack up against other WAC programs for the first time this year, too."
 
On Cole Shugart's finish | "Our opener back in Las Cruces was the first cross country race Cole had taken part in in almost two years due to him battling various injuries. Today it was nice to see him get a full 8K in. Someone with his background and the amount of miles he runs is more suited for those 8K and 10K distances and it was clear to see that he was more in his element this week."

++NM State++