CANYON – Gerzain Valenzuela, Jared McNeil and Vanessa Elizondo were each named to the All-Lone Star Conference Cross Country Team after competing in the LSC Championships at West Texas A&M Horse Center in Canyon on Saturday.
Valenzuela finished fourth overall (26:00.0) and McNeil finished ninth overall (26:21.0) in the men's 8-kilometer race, leading the No. 17 Texans to its second straight second-place finish at the conference meet. Elizondo finished seventh overall (24:14.4) in the women's 6-kilometer race helping the TexAnns to a sixth-place finish in the championship event.
Abilene Christian won the men's LSC crown for an astounding 19th straight year, earning 33 points as three Wildcat runners finished in the top-five. ACU's Arms Sang won the men's event with a time of 24.44.
“It was a disappointment on the men's side because we didn't execute the race plan,” head cross country coach Pat Ponder said. “I am not disappointed in them, but disappointed in the fact that we felt like we had a chance to win the meet. But, you have to give ACU credit. They did an awesome job and deserved to win today.”
Ryan Quezada (18th, 26:58.00) and Jonathan Kern (19th, 27:01.00) each finished in the top-20 for the Texans, while Westyn Rosilies (25th, 27:12.0), Logan Mynar (31st, 27:39.0) and Chris Haerell (35th, 27:46.0) each placed in the top-35 to give Tarleton an overall score of 75 points.
Eastern New Mexico took third-place with 109 points, while Cameron (4th, 118) and Angelo State (5th, 128) followed to round out the top-five men's placements. WTAMU (6th, 144), Texas A&M-Commerce (7th, 152), East Central (8th, 159) and Texas A&M-Kingsville (9th, 235) finalize the men's teams that competed on Saturday.
“The pressure of the conference meet may have gotten to us a bit,” Ponder said. “Now we'll have to refocus, get ready for the regional meet in Abilene in a few weeks and try to get to the national meet.”
The TexAnns finished sixth overall, tallying 171 points in the process. Midwestern State won the women's overall title for the second straight year, finishing the meet with 70 points. MSU's Sydney Cole won the event, crossing the finish line in 23:02.5
Following Elizondo on the women's side, Shadoh Campbell - competing in her first event of the season - finished 30th with a time of 25:40.3 and Katherine Grillo finished 36th with a time of 25:47.0 to give the women's team three top-40 finishers.
“Vanessa ran exceptionally well today and it will be good to see her move on to compete in the regional meet,” Ponder said. “Shadoh's performance was a pleasant surprise with this being her first event of the season.”
“I didn't really know what to expect on the women's side and to see them compete the way they did was very pleasing,” Ponder said. “Each one of the ladies competed really well today.”
ASU (73), ECU (92), Central Oklahoma (111) and WTAMU (123) all finished ahead of the TexAnns. Following Tarleton were ENMU (178), ACU (193), Southwestern Oklahoma (207), TAMUK (228) and TAMUC (277).
The men's team will now prepare for the regional meet which is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 7 in Abilene. The women's season comes to an end, but Elizondo will continue to train as she moves on to the regional meet as well.
