LUBBOCK—Sophomore All-American Felix Kosgei ran a 25:02.50 on Saturday in the men's 8k of the Texas Tech Open at the Chaparral Ridge Golf Course, finishing second overall and leading the Texans to a first place finish in their first meet of the season.
South Plains' Andrew Bosquez placed fifth with a time of 25:57.10 amongst 93 runners. Benjamin Ronoh placed 18th with a time of 26:48.10, as the Texans finished with an average team time of 26:47.16 and 52 total team points. Lubbock Christian placed second with 55 points, as Wayland Baptist, UT-Permian Basin, and West Texas A&M rounded out the top five.
"I was pleased with our guys today and I thought they went out and got after it really well," South Plains cross country coach Frank Barker said. "I think several of them went out a little bit too hard and it cost them at the end, but they're going to learn and keep getting better. For a bunch of freshmen and a couple sophomores, I was really pleased with them."
The Lady Texans earned a fifth place finish as Seselia Dala and Leslie Romero each finished inside the top 20 amongst 100 runners. Dala finished 11th overall with a time of 19:00.50 in the women's 5k, while Romero placed 17th with a mark of 19:21.70. Poro Gahekave finished 28th overall with her time of 19:56.90 as the Lady Texans finished with 116 team points and an average overall time of 20:26.42.
"I think our girls ran really well," Barker said. "I think Seselia went out maybe a little bit too fast, but she turned right around and had a great race. Leslie and Poro did a good job, and I think the one I'm most pleased with even though she wasn't quite at the top was Caitlyn Mercer. She raced really well and competed well, and I'm just tickled to death with all of them."
South Plains will be back in action on Saturday, September 16 when they travel to Snyder for the Western Texas College Open. Full results from each meet can be found by visiting spctexans.com and navigating to the men's and women's cross country pages.