Cherono takes first at Incarnate Word Invite

The women of WT traveled down to San Antonio to preview the regional course this past weekend. Jeniffer Cherono continued her impressive season with a first place finish over the 6k course in a time of 22.26.4. The team placed 2nd out of 8 teams with a total of 55 points. The Men and Women travel to Stillwater to run in the OSU Jamboree on Oct. 4th. This will be the first big test for both teams and a chance to see how the runners stack up with other conference and regional teams.

Solid Effort by Men's Squad at Texas Tech

The Buffs traveled to Lubbock, TX this past weekend with only 5 to run the 8k course. The 8k course was three loops with a tough uphill finish. Haron Lagat blazed the difficult course in a time of 24:27.57 to a first place finish in front of the 109 runners. Both the men's and women's teams are training extremely hard right now.

44 Harris, Thomas West Texas A&M 28:14.31 35

51 Striley, Andrew West Texas A&M 28:38.90 42

63 Saucedo, Isai West Texas A&M 29:13.82 49

65 Kopansky, Matt West Texas A&M 29:19.13 51

68 Kachel, Jarret West Texas A&M 29:38.50 52

Cherono receives LSC runner of the week honors

Jeniffer Cherono was named female runner of the week for the Lone Star Conference after finishing 3rd at the ACU classic and clocking a time of 18:19.07 over the rolling 5k distance. Cherono is a junior from Iten, Kenya

Men Finish 3rd at ACU Classic

The Men of West Texas A&M had a strong season debut finishing 3rd behind defending national champions Abilene Christian and South Plains. The first place 4 mile time went to ACU runner Cleophus Tanui in 18:49.27.

WT Finishers:

13 Velazquez, Jose West Texas A&M 21:54.56
17 Harris, Thomas West Texas A&M 22:33.18
18 Striley, Andrew West Texas A&M 22:36.53
20 Huerta, Jose West Texas A&M 22:52.42
22 Kachel, Jarret West Texas A&M 23:13.25
23 Kopansky, Matt West Texas A&M 23:13.27
29 Saucedo, Isai West Texas A&M 23:46.54
40 Huerta, Erik West Texas A&M 25:24.25
44 Maldonado, Jesse West Texas A&M 26:13.19
45 Flores, Luis West Texas A&M 26:14.86

Women Win ACU Classic

It was a great start to the 2008 season with the Lady Buffs defeating 7th ranked Abilene Christian on their home course. The final score was WT 40 and ACU 49.

The winning 3 mile time went to Winrose Karunde in 17:46.69

WT Finishers:

3 Cherono, Jeniffer 18:19.07
5 Hartsfield, Kristie 19:44.85
11 Castanon, Belinda 20:26.32
12 Reyna, Allie 20:32.71
14 Rapstine, Becca 20:50.06
17 Shields, Tara 21:10.40

Rolling start

Just wanted to update those of you who are following the Buffs and Lady Buffs through the 2008 cross country season. The athletes have had a solid three weeks of training and some individuals are really starting to emerge as front runners. We had our 2 mile time trial on a dirt road outside of town two weeks ago and the top spots shook down like this:

Women:
Jeniffer Cherono (11:45)
Kristie Hartsfield
Allie Reyna
Belinda Castanon

Men:
Jose Velazquez (10:25)
Jose Huerta
Thomas Harris
Aaron Hibbitts
Jarret Kachel
Isai Saucedo
Andrew Striley

Unfortunately our home meet the Buffalo Stampede was canceled due to extremely wet conditions so we didn't get to assess how everyone is responding to the training thus far. Everyone is relatively healthy with the exception of your everyday aches and pains. We are headed to Abilene Christian this weekend to compete so we can assess where we stand as a team. I will post results on Saturday evening.

Time To GO!

The summer has been long and hot at times, but training has gone very well for both the men and women, and everyone has made it through relatively injury free. The men and women will be reporting next week and the preparation will begin for what is to be a monumental season. There will be some familiar faces and a host of new young talent that will compete in cross country and anchor the new track and field program. Below are the distance and mid-distance rosters for the 08-09 season:

Women

Belinda Castanon SR El Paso, Texas (Del Valle)
Jeniffer Cherono JR Iten, Kenya (Cowley County CC)
Sharen Diggs SR Hamlin, Texas (Hamlin)
Kristie Hartsfield JR Perryton, Texas (Perryton)
Becca Rapstine SO White Deer, Texas (White Deer)
Allie Reyna FR Ralls, Texas (Ralls)
Tara Shields FR Spearman, Texas (Spearman)


Men

Luis Flores SO Booker, Texas (Booker)
Thomas Harris SO Amarillo, Texas (Caprock)
Aaron Hibbitts SO Amarillo, Texas (Canyon Randall)
Erik Huerta SO Hereford, Texas (Hereford)
Jose Huerta JR Hereford, Texas (Hereford)
Jarret Kachel JR Hooker, Okla. (Garden City CC)
Matt Kopansky FR Toronto, ON (Birchmount Park CI)
Jacob Lopez FR Canyon, Texas (Canyon)
Albert Maina FR Eldoret, Kenya (Magereza Secondary)
Jesse Maldonado FR Hereford, Texas (Hereford)
Ben Montemayor SO Hart, Texas (Hart)
Jarred Murray FR Odessa, Texas (Permian)
Thomas Sang SO Lubbock, Texas (South Plains, CC)
Isai Saucedo SO Bovina, Texas (Bovina)
Andrew Striley FR Amarillo, Texas (Tascosa)
Jose Velazquez SR Hereford, Texas (Hereford)

The women were ranked fourth in the LSC preseason poll and the men were ranked eighth, but we realize that none of this matters. Speculation is merely that, and all that matters is how everyone finishes. We understand what it takes to build a successful program and we will approach everyday with the big picture in mind. We truly believe that this year will establish the foundation of what is to be an exciting time in West Texas A&M athletics. The time is now...

I will be updating this blog as frequently as possible during the season and hopefully bring to you some training and racing video, so you can really get to know what these student-athletes are all about.