Resendez leads Men's Team to First Conference Title
October 1, 2021 - 11:00 am | Dylan Kessler
Gilbert, Ariz. - History was made this morning as the Mesa Thunderbirds men's cross country team has won their first ACCAC cross country title in program history.
No doubt it was very close, but no matter, the athletes were fierce competitors and won the team championship with 33 pts, edging out Central Arizona College by just two points.
It was also the first time in program history that the T-Birds have had an individual champion at the conference meet. Caden Resendez took the crown with a time of 25:56.3, 17 seconds ahead of the runner-up. Aiden Tinen was the second T-Bird to cross the line, finishing fifth overall with a time of 26:54.9.
Fellow T-Birds Yotuel Garcia (sixth, 26:57.3) and Nathan Mann (ninth, 27:06.6) finished closely behind. Brandon Wilson (12th, 27:35.3), Masen Hofmann (20th, 28:45), and Geoffrey Grossthal (22nd, 28:55) rounded out the top seven for Mesa.
Resendez, Tinen, and Garcia each earned All-ACCAC First Team honors. While Mann and Wilson both earned All-ACCAC Second Team honors.
"To have our men's team win the conference championship and the individual title was impressive, to say the least," says Assistant Coach Paul Spencer Peterson. "Moreover, as a cross country program, having two individual conference champions (Caden Resendez for the men and Kate Brockman for the women) was a fantastic achievement! We have six weeks to continue our progression to Nationals and the way this team is shaping up, no doubt they have the opportunity to be a top-three team. I am very proud of all of them today!"
Paradise Valley CC finished third overall as a team with a score of 52 points. Pima CC (fourth, 115 points) and Phoenix College (fifth, 149 points) rounded out the team scoring.
The T-Birds will compete at the Vaquero "CAMPY" Invitational next Saturday, October ninth, on the main campus of Central Arizona College.
2021 ACCAC CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS COMPLETE RESULTS
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