Saturday

The cross country teams competed at the Al Shirley Invitational hosted by Central Arizona College on Saturday in Coolidge, AZ.  The meet, which consisted of NJCAA D1 and D2 programs, was the fourth meet for both the men and women teams.  

Central Arizona won the meet for the men while Mesa Community College (NJCAA D2) took top honors for the women. 

"We host this meet to honor 5 great legacies that helped spring CAC to become one of the premier distance running programs in the nation." Stated Head Coach Jon Harmon "We also continue to put this meet on to offer another option for local community colleges and athletes to compete in Arizona."

Last year and previous years the meet was known as CAMPY for Chuck Schnoor, Al Shirley, Mike Gray, Paul Tavares, and George Young.  The meet was renamed for 2025 to the Al Shirley Invitational to honor the late Al Shirley, who passed in December 2024.

"I truly do miss Coach Shirley and all the energy he brought to this sport and those around him" Stated Harmon. "He is missed and forever loved here at CAC."

The Vaquera's had a familiar frontrunner at this meet, Lillian Kamm. Lillian toured the 5km race in 19:06 which was good enough to claim 4th overall and run a new personal best.  Lillian's time places her as the 2nd best time on the home course among CAC athletes all-time.  "The women's team ran without two of our top 7 today." Stated Harmon "So I challenged our ladies to step up and pick up the slack, unfortunately we did not come away with the win but had a couple of solid performances."  

Rounding out placing for the Vaquera's were:

Larissa Hernandez 19:57 (8th Overall) and 8th best time all-time on the CAC Home Course.

Emerson Young 19:59 (9th Overall) and 9th best time all-time on the CAC Home Course.

Joyce Hernandez 20:15 (11th Overall).

Reshila Curley 20:45 (16th Overall).

The Women Placed 2nd overall out of 3 Teams, a total of 29 athletes competed. The Vaqueras had a 20:00 team average from 1-5 and a 1:39 second spread.