RC men run to 5th at LCU Invite
The 2020 collegiate cross-country season has been anything but normal for the Ranger College men's team. Thus, when they stepped to the starting line on Sept. 25 in Lubbock for the start of the Lubbock Christian University Invite, they weren't shocked when they learned the race had been set for 5 miles instead of the traditional 5-kilometers most of them had excelled at in high school.
Ranger College head coach Kathy Graham couldn't have been happier with the way the team performed en route to taking fifth in the final standings.
"The longer 5-mile race was tougher for them as they (run the) 5K as high school students. Running 5 miles takes some time to get used to," she said. "They (her team) are tough and they will step up. Their hard work is paying off."
The highest-finishing NJCAA squad at the meet, Ranger had three runners race their way to top 25 finishes in the meet. As a team, they finished with 108 points.
Western New Mexico easily edged out Wayland Baptist University for the top spot in the team standings. Western New Mexico tallied just 43 points, while Wayland Baptist scored 75. West Texas A&M and Lubbock Christian finished third and fourth, respectively, with totals of 76 and 78.
Sophomore Jeremias Serrano-Velez led all RC runners in the race. He covered the course in a time of 27 minutes and 24.20 seconds and placed 10th overall.
Jose Suarez and Hugo Chavarria also placed in the top 25. Suarez was 21st at 28:31.40, while Chavarria was 24th at 28:54.20.
Jacob Ozuna, Christian Parra and Allen Price also turned in solid efforts for the Rangers. Ozuna and Parra rounded out the team's scoring by finishing 33rd and 34th, respectively. Price was 38th.
Other RC runners competing in the race included Dylan Sasser, Angel Torres, Cole Robinson, Miguel Martinez Caballero, Sakariye Ismail, Jalen Ledesma and Andrew Nunez.