OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - ­ The South Plains College Texans successfully defended the NJCAA half marathon championship they won last year behind the returning sophomores who powered them to the title last year.

The Texans won the title last year behind the All-America performances of Tallam Kipruto,
Anthony Pequeno and Mitchell Driver. Those three returned this year and
finished second, fourth and fifth, again earning All-American while leading SPC to another dominating performance.

Kipruto finished the course that wove through Shawnee Mission Park and Mill
Creek Streamway Park in 1:08:37.5. Pequeno finished in 1:10:30.2 and
Driver's time was close behind at 1:10:44.4.

Robert Castanon (1:14:42.9) and Tomilee Lloyd (1:20:01.4) also competed in the championship event, crossing the line 14^th and 40^th, respectively.

South Plains posted a team score of 11 points, 16 points better than the
runner-up finisher, Johnson County Community College, host of the
championship.

The Lady Texans finished seventh in the team scoring with Paulina Wilson leading the way with a 15^th place finish. Wilson crossed the line with a time of 1:31:28.2. Crystal Dickinson was the next Lady Texan to complete the course as she finished in 20^th place with a time of 1:33:10.5 and Shayla Contreras rounded out the scoring for SPC with a 25^th place finish and a time of 1:36:57.8.

Kadian Dunkley (1:38.29.1) and Lorianne Pattee (1:51:33.5) also competed, crossing the line in 29^th and 45^th place.

The NJCAA half-marathon championships conclude the fall cross country season for the Texans and Lady Texans. The SPC long distance runners will return to action in January when the track season begins.

MEN's TEAM RESULTS

WOMEN's TEAM RESULTS

PEORIA, Ill. - The fifth ranked Lady Texan and seventh ranked Texan cross country teams performed better than their rankings this past Saturday when the SPC women finished third and the men fourth at the NJCAA cross country championships in Peoria, Illinois.

The Lady Texans were able to leap past Region 5 rival and number two ranked El Paso Community College and fourth ranked Cowley County with a strong team showing, led by freshman Lisa Forsberg.

ROSWELL, N.M. - The South Plains College Texans dominated the field and came within three points of a perfect team score on their way to claiming the Region 5 cross country championship in Roswell, New Mexico on Saturday.

Led by Tallam Kipruto's winning time of 25:58.00, the Texans claimed the top four spots in the race. Mitchell Driver covered the 8,000-meter course in 26:55, while Anthony Pequeno (27:13) and Tomilee Loyd (27:43) were third and fourth. Robert Castanon finished eighth overall in 28:20.

Marcelis Lynch (31:13) and Josh Harris (31:16) also competed for the Texans, finishing 23^rd and 24^th, respectively.

Led by freshman Lisa Forsberg, the Lady Texans finished second in the team standings with 57 points. Forsberg finished the race third overall, completing the 5,000-meter course in 18:42.00. Shayla Contreras (19:15) was ninth overall, while Paulina Wilson (19:40) and Kadian Dunkley (19:44) finished 13^th and 14^th. Crystal Dickinson (20:54) completed the team scoring with her 19^th place finish.

Lorianne Pattee (22:15) finished 29^th overall.

The cross country teams now have a week to prepare before the compete in the NJCAA cross country championships on November 14^th in Peoria, Illinois.

Texas Tech's Lillian Badaru was comfortable running with the pack through the first two miles at Oklahoma State's Cowboy Jamboree earlier this month. As she noticed players dropping from the group, though, she decided to make her move.

"The other girls, they started dying, and I thought I could move ahead," Badaru said. "I just took off running."

Click here to read article from the Lubbock AJ

SAN ANGELO, Texas - The South Plains College Texans took home the team title at the ASU Blue and Gold Classic after sweeping the top three individual places and taking six of the top 10 spots. The Texans scored 20-points to defeat host Angelo State who scored 36-points. The Lady Texans narrowly missed the team title after scoring 40 team points. Angelo State took the title with 38 points.