Aggie Runners Improve Times at Heartland Conference Championships
October 23, 2016
Mansfield, TexasThe Panhandle State men's and women's cross country teams competed in the Heartland Conference Cross Country Championship meet this weekend and, while they may not have earned the best team finishes, each group set personal best times, making the competition a success.
In the field of 90 runners representing nine teams in the women's six kilometer race, juniors Danielle Villarreal (83rd) and Jasmine Brown-Jutras (86th) turned in their individual best times for the Aggies with finishes of 29:43.4 and 32:33.9 respectively. Freshmen Sunaed Ramirez, Brileigh Murphree and A.J. Husband all three set personal best times on Saturday; Ramirez clocked in at 34:07.1, followed by Murphree at 35:30.9 and Husband with a time of 36:18.5. Also dropping her time for the ladies was senior Shelby Perry finishing in 36:47.6. As a team the Aggie women placed ninth averaging 33:38.8.
The men's team also saw improvement throughout the team as Philip Kirongo bested himself with an 8K time of 26:22.7 to place 24th in the field of 99 runners. Junior Calvin McKinney was the second Aggie to cross the line, finishing with a time of 29:45.8 to place 81st individually. Also finishing with personal best times for the Aggies were Aaron Hammett (30:45.2), Jacob Morales (31:24.7), Cameron Hammett (31:30.4) and Firas Ghazouani (32:49.0). The men averaged a team time of 29:57.8 to place ninth out of the nine teams competing.
Head Coach Jason Miner was very pleased with his team's performance saying, "I am happy how all of our runners ran. Almost all runners on both sides ran personal records, and that is what I asked them to do before the race. Our conference has been better and better over the past few years and this was the best year yet. We will continue to improve on our times and will work to be at our best again here in two weeks at regionals."
Dallas Baptist earned both team titles with the women averaging a time of 22:20.6 and the men averaging 25:08.1. DBU's Julia Pepper claimed first place individually with a 6K time of 21:52.3, while Baylor Harvey of Rogers State earned his second men's individual championship with an eight kilometer time of 24:21.7. Full results are posted on the cross country schedule pages at opsuaggies.com.
In the field of 90 runners representing nine teams in the women's six kilometer race, juniors Danielle Villarreal (83rd) and Jasmine Brown-Jutras (86th) turned in their individual best times for the Aggies with finishes of 29:43.4 and 32:33.9 respectively. Freshmen Sunaed Ramirez, Brileigh Murphree and A.J. Husband all three set personal best times on Saturday; Ramirez clocked in at 34:07.1, followed by Murphree at 35:30.9 and Husband with a time of 36:18.5. Also dropping her time for the ladies was senior Shelby Perry finishing in 36:47.6. As a team the Aggie women placed ninth averaging 33:38.8.
The men's team also saw improvement throughout the team as Philip Kirongo bested himself with an 8K time of 26:22.7 to place 24th in the field of 99 runners. Junior Calvin McKinney was the second Aggie to cross the line, finishing with a time of 29:45.8 to place 81st individually. Also finishing with personal best times for the Aggies were Aaron Hammett (30:45.2), Jacob Morales (31:24.7), Cameron Hammett (31:30.4) and Firas Ghazouani (32:49.0). The men averaged a team time of 29:57.8 to place ninth out of the nine teams competing.
Head Coach Jason Miner was very pleased with his team's performance saying, "I am happy how all of our runners ran. Almost all runners on both sides ran personal records, and that is what I asked them to do before the race. Our conference has been better and better over the past few years and this was the best year yet. We will continue to improve on our times and will work to be at our best again here in two weeks at regionals."
Dallas Baptist earned both team titles with the women averaging a time of 22:20.6 and the men averaging 25:08.1. DBU's Julia Pepper claimed first place individually with a 6K time of 21:52.3, while Baylor Harvey of Rogers State earned his second men's individual championship with an eight kilometer time of 24:21.7. Full results are posted on the cross country schedule pages at opsuaggies.com.
