LEVELLAND — The third-ranked South Plains College men's cross country team placed four runners inside the top 10 of the men's 8k at the South Plains College Cross Country Open on Saturday at Brashear Lake as they tied with West Texas A&M for first place with each team tallying 38 points.
Andrew Bosquez led the way once again for the Texans as the sophomore from Hobbs, New Mexico was the first runner across the finish line in a time of 26:00.00. South Plains' Japhet Toroitich placed second overall amongst 68 runners, turning in a final time of 26:01.90.
Sophomore Filmon Beyene clocked a final time of 26:15.40 for the Texans, good enough for fifth, while Jesse Madrid took eighth for the orange and blue with a time of 26:51.60. South Plains finished with a final team time of 2:13:26.20 with a team average of 26:41.24. West Texas A&M finished with a team average of 26:37.92, while Ranger College, Western New Mexico and Western Texas College rounded out the top five.
"Our guys ran well and our top four really went out and competed extremely hard," South Plains assistant coach Frank Barker said. "That's all I can ask out of these guys is to go out and run hard and do what they can every week, and all of them went out and really got after it."
Despite competing with just four runners and unable to place in the team standings, the Lady Texans placed two runners inside the top five and three in the top 20 of the women's 5k. Freshman Gladys Jemaiyo earned a second place overall finish for the Lady Texans, crossing the finish line at 18:20.40. South Plains' Dorcus Ewoi used a time of 19:04.00 to take third overall amongst 78 runners, while freshman Angela Rodriguez placed 18th with a time of 20:42.50.
"Our women's team is a little banged up right now with injuries, but they're going to be ok and ready to go in the upcoming weeks," Barker said. "Gladys and Dorcus really ran well and competed extremely hard today, and overall from top to bottom I'm happy with what we were able to do today on both sides."
Wayland Baptist won the women's 5k with a team average of 19:35.12, while New Mexico State, Angelo State, West Texas A&M, and Western New Mexico rounded out the top five.