Men's Results | Women's Results
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - In their first home meet since 2017, the NM State men's and women's cross country teams started their season in strong fashion by hosting the Lori Fitzgerald Memorial Open Saturday morning at the NM State Golf Course.
The Aggies' women's team came up with a runner-up finish in the six-team event while NM State's men's squad finished fourth among the six-team field.
MEN
• Battling through the final lap in a search for a top-five finish, Anekin Hetman narrowly missed out on one. Though a top-five finish wasn't in the cards, NM State's top finisher in the men's side traversed the five-kilometer course in a time of 15:09.67 - good for sixth place as well as a five-kilometer PR.
• Making his first appearance in an NM State uniform, Cole Shugart placed six spots behind Hetman in a time of 15:25.08. The graduate student's 12th-place finish was the only other top 15 finish NM State generated on the men's side.
• Three other Aggies finished in the top half of the 60-man field. Micah Too was clocked in a time of 15:53.39 to place 25th. Matt Goddard (15:59.28) and Kayn Quinones (16:04.69) finished 27th and 30th respectively to round out the Aggies' contingent of top-five runners.
• Outside of the top five, five other Aggies - Pedro Espinoza (16:10.95, 33rd), Nick Ortiz (16:21.61, 37th), Zack Wilcox (16:44.44, 45th), Anthony Molina (16:49.39, 46th) and Jacob Grosch (16:58.18, 48th) - also completed the course.
• UTEP (39 points) won the event while New Mexico (60 points) and New Mexico Highlands (62 points) rounded out the top three teams. The Aggies posted a fourth-place finish in the six-team event, gathering up 96 points.
WOMEN
• Emily Stutesman led a strong performance for the women's cross country squad who generated a runner-up finish thanks to three top-11 finishes.
• Stutesman raced near the front of the pack all morning, eventually finishing sixth overall in a time of 17:44.62 along the five-kilometer course.
• Richelle Sandin made a strong push along the final lap of the course in order to earn a top-ten finish. Her 10th-place time of 17:59.88 narrowly beat out teammate Maggie Gibbs' time of 18:03.38 for the last spot in the top ten. Gibbs' time was good for an 11th-place finish.
• Two other Aggies managed to finish among the top 20 performers. Thobile Amon, who was making her NM State debut, placed 17th in a time of 19:05.16 while Mia Regan's 19th-place finish came in a time of 19:15.48.
• Outside of the top five, Thulisile Amon (22nd, 19:03.02) and Kayla O'Connell (28th, 20:08.70) rounded out NM State's group of finishers.
• New Mexico (35 team points) won the event with the Aggies (49 points) close behind for second place. UTEP (65 points) rounded out the list of top-three finishing teams in the six-team event.
COMING UP NEXT
• With their lone meet in the month of September in the books, the Aggies are off for almost two weeks. NM State's next action on the trails comes on Friday, Oct. 1, in Tucson, Ariz., when the squads compete in the Dave Murray Invitational hosted by Arizona.
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