Lady Texans Claim a Share of the NJCAA Half-Marathon Championship
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - Just one week ago Natoya Goulenearly led the South Plains College Lady Texans to the NJCAA team cross country championship, coming just eight points short of Cowley County on her way to a runner-up finish individually.
Today, Goule claimed another runner-up finish individually but this time her team tied Cowley County with 17 points to claim a share of the national championship. The Texans finished third in the team standings.
"Both the men and women ran really well today," said head coach Chris Beene. "Everyone was pretty tired after laying it all on the line last week (at the cross country championships) but the kids competed really hard and we claimed another national title. I could not be happier."
The half-marathon championship marks the 22nd national title the Texans and Lady Texans have won in cross country, half-marathon, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field and is the 14th title Beene has overseen as head coach at South Plains College.
In addition to Goule, who completed the 13.1 mile race in 1 hour, 22 minutes and 41.5 seconds, the Lady Texans received eighth and ninth place (7th & 8th in team standings) overall finishes from Kadian Dunkley and Tiffany Matthews. Dunkley crossed the line in a time of 1:27:39.2 with Matthews hot on her trail in 1:27:40.0.
Levelland native Leann Cardona was SPC's fourth finisher, crossing the line 17th overall in 1:30:54.7. Kirsten Taylor (1:35:36.2) was 32nd.
On the men's side, Kemoy Campbell led the Texans with an eighth place finish and a time of 1:11:06.8.
Finishing with a time of 1:13:10.9 was sophomore Joey Villarreal in 15th place. Villarreal was followed by Roblet Muhudin who finished 23rd overall, crossing the line in a time of 1:14:35.6.
Also competing for the Texans were Isacc Placencia (1:16:03.3) and Hugo Aguinaga(1:17:36.9), finishing 35th and 46th, respectively.
The indoor track and field season is up next for Coach Beene's Texan and Lady Texan squads. Their first meet is scheduled for January 14th at Texas Tech University.