Kipruto Leads Men to Region V Title, Women Finish Second

October 25, 2008

Hobbs, NM - The South Plains College cross country teams had a great showing at the NJCAA Region V/WJCAC Championships on Saturday, October 25.

Tallum Kipruto led the way for the SPC men, who placed all five scoring runners in the top nine, by claiming the individual championship. Kipruto covered the 8,000 meter course in a time of 25:36.47. Anthony Pequeno (26:25.00), Mitchell Driver (26:44.00), and Javier Perez (26:46.00) placed fourth, fifth, and sixth for the Texans, with Derek Brest (27:49.00) rounding out the scoring by finishing ninth. The Texans won the meet with 25 points. Also for South Plains, Robert Castonon (28:31.00) finished in 14th place, and Blake Rothbard (29:15.00) crossed the line in 16th place.

Sophmore Gladys Chumba led the way for the Lady Texan Cross Country team, finishing second with a time of 19:34.98. Finishing close behind Chumba was fellow Lady Texan Meagan Willingham (19:48.29) who finished the race in third place. Also running for SPC, Shayla Contreras (20:40.96) finished in 11th place, Lorianne Pattee (20:45.04) placed 12th, and Margarita Pequeno (22:53.32) crossed the line in 18th place.

Next up for South Plains Cross Country will be the NJCAA National Championships held in Spartanburg, SC on November 8.