Lady Texans place third, Texans fourth Saturday at Half Marathon National Championships in El Paso

Lady Texans place third, Texans fourth Saturday at Half Marathon National Championships in El Paso
Posted: Nov 23, 2019

EL PASO, TX — The South Plains College women's half marathon team placed three runners in the top 10 and five inside the top 25 en route to a third place national finish Saturday at the Half Marathon National Championships at Ascarate Park.

Sophomore Gladys Jemaiyo earned All-American honors, leading the Lady Texans with a fourth-place national finish in a time of 1:20:49.6. South Plains' Daisy Kibet wasn't far behind, clocking a final time of 1:25:45.7, good enough for eighth overall. Sophomore standout Dorcus Ewoi was the third Lady Texan across the line, posting a 1:26:49.1 to take 10th nationally. Nyia Sena earned an 18th place finish with her time of 1:32:26.0, while Angela Rodriguez finished 24th in 1:37:19.4.

Iowa Central won the women's division with a time of 4:08:15.6, while El Paso was second in a time of 4:11:42.2, with South Plains taking third in a time of 4:13:24.5.

"Our women ran hard today, and the effort was there from all of our runners and the competition was really strong this year," South Plains cross country coach Frank Barker said. "Dorcus came into the race with an upset stomach and was passed about 30 meters from the finish, but ran two minutes faster than last year but was one place further back. Overall, I thought we gave a great effort and never let up, and although the final results weren't what we wanted, the effort these kids put in was definitely there."

The Texans brought home a fourth-place national finish with a final time of 3:47:31.3. El Paso won the men's division with a time of 3:22:54.9, while Vincennes University was second with a time of 3:32:24.0, and Iowa Central was third in 3:34:45.3.

Freshman Abdirizak Ibrahim led the Texans with an eighth-place national finish, crossing the line in a time of 1:10:40.9. Sophomore Alex Kitum was a step behind, placing 10th overall with a time of 1:13:01.5. The Texans' Ryan Robinson posted a final time of 1:23:48.8, placing 33rd overall for the orange and blue. 

2019 NJCAA Half Marathon National Championships full results: https://raceadventuresunlimited.com/results/