Friday,

The cross country teams competed at the ACCAC/Region 1 Championship hosted by Paradise Valley Community College on Friday in Gilbert, AZ.  The meet, which consisted of Division 1 and Division 2 junior college programs, was the sixth meet for both the men and women teams.  

"As a team, I wanted the men and ladies to work together and encourage each other"  Stated Head Coach Jon Harmon. "I purposely held out some of my top runners from both the men and women's team because our motto from day 1 of season was that we are only as good as our last runner to cross the finish line."

For the first time this season, the men were led by Carson Wetzel. Carson toured the 8km race in 25:57.4 which was good enough to claim 2nd overall and 1st in Division 1. "Joel, Carson, and Emmanuel worked exceptionally well together." Stated Harmon "I told Micah, Max, Erardo, and Justin that they needed to step up in a big way for us to win, and they did."  

Rounding out placing for the Vaquero's were:

Joel Barros 26:06.70 (3rd Overall) and 2nd place in Division 1.

Emmanuel Simiyu 26:08.60 (5th Overall) and 3rd place in Division 1.

Micah Peynando 26:51.90 (17th Overall) and 9th place in Division 1.

Max Lopez 27:08.10 (21st Overall) and 11th place in Division 1.

Erardo Gonzales 28:58.90 (37th Overall) and 19th place in Division 1.

Justin Escanuela 30:06.80 (42nd Overall) and 20th place in Division 1. 

The Men Placed 1st overall out of 7 Teams, a total of 54 athletes competed. The Vaqueros had a 26:26 team average from 1-5 and a 1:10 second spread.