Men Run to 1st Place Finish, Women to Runner-Up Finish at Mesa Cross Country Classic

Mesa, AZ - The men's and women's cross country teams hosted the Mesa Cross Country Classic on Saturday, October 7th, with the men's team running to a perfect score of 15 for first place, while the women had a runner-up team finish.

The men started the day and displayed excellent pack running that allowed them have a perfect score.  The men's team were led by freshman Felix Rios. 

"I thought our pack did much better of staying close to each other. We are executing what we've been talking about all season," said Head Coach Daniel Pescador. 

The Thunderbirds had an all around good day with runners beating or matching their personal best times. "I think the most promising takeaway from this weekend was that our #3 thru #7 were much closer and allowed us to have a 44 second gap between our scoring 5 runners," said Pescador.

The women followed the men, achieving a runner-up finish to Grand Canyon University, and were led once again by freshman Emilie Reemstma. 

"The girls are a little banged up and have yet to run all eight girls at full strength.  We still ran a little better than we did at conference,  but the girls know they ran much faster," said Pescador. 

A highlighting performance was made by sophomore Ashlyn Didomenico, who finished as the team's second runner, but dropped over minute from her time from last year's race. 

"I thought Ashlyn really stepped up to help bridge the gap and keep a small spread between our top four girls. We just need to get our 5th runner a little closer.  Once we do, we'll perform the way we're capable of," said Pescador.

The cross country team will have the next weekend off before heading to Tempe for the ASU Invitational on October 20th.