HOBBS — The South Plains College men's and women's cross country teams were back on the course Friday morning competing at the New Mexico Junior College Invitational at Harry McAdams Park, their second of six meets this season.
"I think we improved from last week," South Plains College head coach Erik Vance said. "Today was an easier course with some strong winds, and what we are looking for is continued improvement as we go through the year. We're working some of our middle distance kids into the longer distance that is cross country, and I thought we ran better today."
Lilliana Guerrero turned in a 14th place finish for the Lady Texans, posting a final time of 21:14.2 in the women's 5k. Esmeralda Espinoza was 19th with a time of 21:50.1, while Jeniel Jones finished 23rd in 22:39.1. Aron Tanui led the Texans in the men's 8k with a 3rd place finish in a time of 24:58.3, while Maximus Palacios was 17th in 28:50.8, and Christian Francisco placed 19th in 29:35.0.
"I think we saw improvement today, and that's all we can ask for," Vance said. "We try to put our kids against good competition all year long, and I think it's going to help us long term. We get to run at home next Friday, and it's always nice to run at home and we usually see some good times. It's going to be a good event, and our kids will enjoy it, and hopefully, we get some people out there to support us."
South Plains will be back on the course on Friday, Oct. 1 at Brashear Lake Park in Levelland beginning at 4 p.m.
The full results for Friday's meet can be found here: https://www.tfrrs.org/results/xc/20638/NMJC_Cross_Country_Invitational_