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