The Vaqueras went into Saturday's NJCAA Championships with the No. 2 ranking and took second in the women's event behind top-ranked Iowa Central, which had three top-10 placers.

Zahira Jimenez was CAC's top finisher in the women's 5k race, taking 19th in 19:08.9. Chloe Newell was 26th in 19:26.3, Konnie Zuniga took 43rd in 19:48.4 and April Steward was 44th in 19:48.9. Danielle Jones was 49th in 19:54.1, Allison Denetchee took 59th in 20:07.5, and April Tracy was 193rd in 22:02.4.

Darroneshia Lott of South Plains, Texas, had a first-place time of 17:48.4, winning the race by nearly 16 seconds over runner-up Fiona McKenna of Iowa Central.

"We had a couple of girls coming back from injuries, and they really didn't have the necessary rest," Tavares said. "They still ran solid, and being second in the nation is not too bad. It's nothing to feel terrible about," mainly because "Iowa Central had one of the best teams I've seen since I've been coaching," Tavares said.

Iowa Central scored 40 points. The Vaqueras had 145 in taking second at nationals for the second straight year.

Prior to Saturday, CAC's last national title was won by the women's cross country team in 2009.