Rossignaud powers Rangers to 2nd at Western Texas Open
Posted: Sep 11, 2018

Rossignaud powers Rangers to 2nd at Western Texas Open

Heading into the Western Texas Open, Ranger College head coach Kathy Graham wanted to see how her team would react to the challenges of rainy and muddy conditions. The combination would go a long way in finding out just how good her team can be.

Based on what she saw, Graham was more than pleased.

Ranger College had four runners, including Loic Rossignaud, finish in the top 10 at the 8-kilometer race and sprinted to an impressive second-place finish. Overall, all 13 RC runners finished in the top 30.

"It was a wet soggy day," said Graham, noting the Snyder area had received several days of rainfall before the Sept. 8 meet. "The mud stuck to the spikes of the runners and weighed down their shoes, making running difficult and slippery. It was a day to see what each runner was made of."

Rossignaud responded well to the challenge. He sprinted to a sixth-place finish in the men's standings with a time of 28 minutes, 45 seconds.

Teammates Fernando Teran, Jahlil Howard and Daniel De La Cruz Flores also legged out impressive efforts. Teran was seventh in the race at 29:01, while Howard and De La Cruz Flores finished eighth and ninth, respectively, with times of 29:15 and 29:36.

Chris Larson and Gilbert Palomo narrowly missed the top 10. Garcia took 11th at 30:00, while Palomo was 12th at 30:16.

Drew Wiles, Edward Njuguna and Luis Rios added to the Rangers' impressive finish. All three turned in sub-32-minute times and finished 17th, 18th and 19th, respectively. Wiles' final mark was 30:58. Njuguna and Rios posted runs of 31:06 and 31:07.

Madison Edwards, Juan Luis Espinoza, Jay Nolan and Laytham Magana also finished for RC. Edwards was 24th at 32:28, while Espinoza sprinted across the finish line at 32:31 and placed 25th. Nolan was 26th at 32:33, while Magana was 28th at 32:50.

South Plains, which claimed the top five runners in the race, edged Ranger in the team standings. SPC finished 15 points, while Ranger netted 41. Western Texas College edged out Odessa College for third.