Posted: Oct 08, 2018

Rossignaud leads Ranger to 3rd at NMJC Invite

Loic Rossignaud came a long way to be a part of the Ranger College men's cross country team. A real long way – like from western Europe.

Everyone is glad he did.

A freshman from Ceyrat, France, Rossignaud powered his way to a top-10 finish on Sept. 28 and spurred the Ranger College men to a third-place finish in the team standings at the New Mexico Junior College Invitational in Hobbs. N.M. The finish marked the third time in as many meets the 14^th-ranked Rangers have finished in the top three at a meet.

"The men's team continues to improve by running closer together with the 1-5 runners coming in about one minute apart," said RC coach Kathy Graham.

How impressive was Rangers' third-place finish? The only two teams to finish above them in the standings – South Plains College and El Paso Community College, respectively – are both ranked in the top seven small college programs in the nation.

Rossignaud had little trouble conquering the 7-kilometer course. He powered his way to a time of 22 minutes, 28.3 seconds and finished less than a minute behind eventual race champion Andrew Bosquez of South Plains.

As a team, South Plains had five runners finish in the top 15 spots.

Daniel De La Cruz Flores and Chris Larson also turned in stellar outings for the Rangers. De La Cruz Flores legged out a 10^th-place finish in the meet. He crossed the finish line with a mark of 22:43.2. Larson posted his third straight top 15 finish this season by taking 12^th overall at 22:53.9.

Sophomore Jahlil Howard narrowly missed finishing in the top 15. He posted a time of 22:59.7 and placed 16^th. He trailed South Plains' Alex Krum for 15^th by one-half second.

Fernado Teran, Gilberto Palomo and Edward Njunguna added top 30 marks. Teran was 23^rd at 23:30.3, while Palomo was 25^th at 23:37.9. Njunguna raced his way to 28^th at 23:51.4.

Other Ranger College runners competing in the meet included Luis Rios (43^rd), Jay Nolan (48^th), Laytham Magana (55^th), Madison Edwards (56^th), Juan Luis Espinoza (63^rd) and Julian Castiblanco (66^th).