Posted: Sep 13, 2015

Cross Country have a solid first meet in Riverside

Riverside, CA- Mesa participated in their first meet of the season in Riverside, CA. The women were 8th out 17 and the Men were 4th out 12 in their respective races.

The women were led by Adeline Montgomery(Fr., Gilbert, AZ, Highland H.S.), as she ran 18:52 to finish 33rd overall in the 197 field.

For all but one athlete, this was their first collegiate race and they rose to the challenge. Everyone set a personal best, and as a team they ran what they were expected to run.

Mesa finished 8th as a team, being narrowly edged out by NJCAA National Runner-Up Central Arizona.

"I thought Addi had a great race to open her season. We told her what her race plan was and she executed it to the fullest, without ever deviating from it," said Cross Country Head Coach Daniel Pescador.

The men followed the women's success with great race of their own. The men were led by David Fernandez(Fr., Oro Valley, AZ, Ironwood Ridge H.S.) as he clocked a time of 26:24, finishing in 20th place in the 157 field.

"I thought the men did a great job of packing it up early but not waiting. Overall everyone turned in good races and set PR's. It's early for us, but we opened up as expected," said Pescador. "David turned in a great performance for his very first collegiate 8k race. He ran a very controlled race and moved up constantly throughout the race. We expect big things to come from both of our squads as we move forward with the season."

Next up for the Thunderbirds is the Dave Murray Invite at U of A, where the men run at 4:45pm and the women run at 5:30pm.

Other Thunderbird Finishers:


Women:


70th - 

Gabby Ybarra          FR Mesa CC                19:31.1


72nd - 

Samantha Miller      FR Mesa CC                19:35.6


121st - 

Alexis Ramirez       SO Mesa CC                20:48.2


132nd - 
Hilary Ogutu         FR Mesa CC                21:03.8


151st- 

Kyla McDaniel        FR Mesa CC                21:48.5


Men:


34th - 

Zach Harrach         FR Mesa CC                26:54.0


71st - 

Ethan Clah           FR Mesa CC                28:11.0


76th - 

Doug Martel          FR Mesa CC                28:21.3


94th - 
Jonathan Lopez       FR Mesa CC                28:49.0


111th - 
Seth Houldridge      FR Mesa CC                29:34.4


126th - 

Felix Drake          FR Mesa CC                30:35.9


127th - 

Jason Marrufo        FR Mesa CC                30:43.0


128th  - 

Matthew Vaglienty    FR Mesa CC                30:46.1


134th - 

Tyler Poates         FR Mesa CC                31:03.8


150th - 

Ramiro Ortiz         FR Mesa CC                34:07.3