Mesa Cross Country Opens Their 2022 Season Tomorrow

Friday, September 2, 2022 - 7:30 pm | Dylan Kessler

The Mesa Thunderbirds men's and women's cross country teams will get their 2022 season underway tomorrow at the George Kyte Classic in Flagstaff, hosted by Northern Arizona University.

Both teams had some historical moments last year. From the men's team winning their first conference title in program history to the women's team winning the region title, along with both the men's and women's teams setting program records for the highest finish at a national championship meet (Women - third place; Men - fourth place).

Both teams also had quite a few spectacular individual performances such as having the individual conference and regional champions on both the men's and women's sides. In addition to earning nine All-ACCAC honors, 12 All-Region honors, and five All-American honors combined.

For the first time since the 2019 season, the T-Birds will host a home meet. The Mesa College Jamboree will take place on October first and the course will be run along the practice fields on the Southern & Dobson campus.

This season will also mark the first time that the ACCAC and NJCAA Region I Championships will be combined into one race. Central Arizona College will host the meet on October 29th and scoring will be separated to determine the conference and region champions.

The NJCAA Division II National Championship meet will be held at Appalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Florida, on November 12th.

For the men's team, their goals and expectations are to "show the other teams that they can compete with anyone in the country, regardless of division," said Head Coach Dan Pescador. "They also want to run as close to each other as possible, to keep small spreads between our top seven runners. Ultimately, they want to have another record-setting season."

The coaches' goals and expectations for the men's team are to "compete with the best and set our mark," said Coach Pescador. "We have a very talented group, one of the best men's teams that Mesa has ever had. So we want to achieve a high level of success based on that talent. Which for us as coaches, is seeing this men's team get on the podium at nationals. We fell a little short last, placing fourth overall so that's our benchmark. The expectation is to get on the podium, the goal is not to settle for second or third."

For athletes to watch on the men's team, Coach Pescador says that "Clearly, a runner to watch is Yotuel Garcia. He is a returning All-American, after getting eighth last fall. He's in tremendous shape right now and working very hard. I definitely see him placing a lot higher than what he did last fall. Also, the ones to watch are freshmen Javier Garcia and Connor King. Javier is not far behind Yotuel right now in training and showing why he's going to be one of the best in the nation. If he's near the front at the national meet which he is capable of, it will really help this team achieve our goals. Connor is another returning All-American from last fall that will also be a major factor in the success that we have."

For the women's team, Assistant Coach Spencer Peterson says that "this year's group has high goals and expectations following last year's third-place finish. Their main goal is to have five Runners place in the top 15 at the national championship meet. They also want to really focus on the team bonding aspect and continue the team culture of running for each other rather than themselves. They want to be dialed in and give 100% daily."

The coaches' goals and expectations for the women's team are "to continue to be one of the elite teams in the country," says Coach Peterson. "We've had very good teams over the years, and this is clearly the best team we've ever had. Our primary goal is to be better than last year and improve on our placing at nationals. The women were third last fall, and we want to improve on that. With that said, we don't want to settle for second place."

For athletes to watch on the women's team, Coach Pescador says that "Can I name all of our girls? But in all seriousness, we have a very talented and hard-working group. It's always nice to be in a position where you return the individual national runner-up. Kate Brockman is definitely going to be someone to keep an eye on. Along with newcomers Taylor Jacobs, MaKena Thornton, and Ryan Heiliger. MaKena and Ryan are returning All-Americans. Taylor has the ability to not just be the top freshman in the country, but to be one of the best in the nation regardless of grade level."

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