Regional and National Championships

Sorry this update is coming in so late. Things have been very busy transitioning from Cross Country to Indoor.

The Men and Women closed the season out with some strong individual performances, but fell short in the team standings. The Men had some personal best performances by Jose Velasquez and Isai Saucedo in San Antonio at the regional championship.

Competing over a 10 kilometer course, Jose Velazquez (senior, Hereford, Texas) led the Buffs with a 74th place finish and a time of 34:12. He was followed by Isai Saucedo (soph., Bovina, Texas), 97th, 35:04; Thomas Harris (sophomore, Amarillo, Texas), 105th, 35:28; Andrew Striley (freshman, Amarillo, Texas), 107th, 35:34 and Jarret Kachel (junior, Hooker, Okla.), 122nd, 36:43. Also competing, but not counted in the team scoring were Matt Kopansky (fresh., Toronto, Ont.), 131st, 37:39 and Erik Huerta (soph., Hereford, Texas), 139th, 38:42. The team finished 19th place overall.

The Women were led by Jennifer Cherono and Kristie Hartsfield with Cherono finishing fifth to qualify for the National Championship meet.

Cherono led the Lady Buffs' with a time of 21.37, 50 seconds better than her previous best time at the distance. She was followed by Kristie Hartsfield (junior, Perryton, Texas), who finished 36th with a time of 23:11 and Allie Reyna (freshman, Ralls, Texas), 55th with a time of 23.53, Belinda Castanon (senior, El Paso, Texas) was 63rd overall (24:13), Becca Rapstine (sophomore, White Deer, Texas), placed 97th (25:23) and Tara Shields (freshman, Spearman, Texas) finished 113th with a time of 27:25 in the 130-entrant field. The team finished 8th place overall.

Cherono finished 62nd at the NCAA Division II Championships in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. The weather was not ideal with snow and freezing temperatures, but I guess everyone had to run in it. Either way Jennifer had a great season and the future is looking bright for WT cross country.