Garcia and King Earn All-American Honors as Men Finish Fourth at Nationals
November 13, 2021 - 2:00 pm | Dylan Kessler
Richmond, Va. - The Thunderbirds men's cross country team were lead by All-American performances from freshman Yotuel Garcia and Connor King at the 2021 NJCAA Division II Cross Country Championship.
With 130 points, the T-Birds placed fourth overall in a field of 30 teams, a new program record for highest finish at a national championship meet.
Garcia capped off a successful season with an eighth-place finish (25:43.4) and earned All-American honors in the process. King was the second T-Bird to earn All-American honors, as he crossed the finish line in 17th place and ran a personal-best time of 26:10.1 for 8,000 meters.
Aidan Tinen (28th, 26:54), Nathan Mann (38th, 27:25.3), Brandon Wilson (43rd, 27:31.7), Masen Hofmann (44th, 27:32.6), and Geoffrey Grossthal (67th, 28:09.9) also represented the T-Birds at the championships.
"I cannot express enough how proud I am of Yotuel," said Head Coach Dan Pescador. "He ran with such poise and confidence, and was with the lead pack for nearly the entire duration of the race. To go from not making the state meet in high school to top ten in the nation is just phenomenal. I was also very proud of the rest of our team today. The scales didn't exactly tip our way, but our group never gave up. Connor had a tremendous run to get into the top 20. We have a young group and I'm confident we'll be back in position to continue to take the program to new heights."
Cowley College won the team title with 82 points, Daytona State were the runner-ups with 102 points, and Heartland CC finished ahead of the T-Birds with 115 points.
With the conclusion of the national championships, the 2021 cross country season has officially ended. The athletes will take some time off to recover, and then will change gears for the 2022 indoor/ outdoor track & field seasons.
2021 NJCAA DIVISION II CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS COMPLETE RESULTS
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