Meet Results WT Results WICHITA FALLS, Texas – The 17
th ranked Buffalo cross country team of West Texas A&M put together another dominating team performance in Saturday morning's Lone Star Conference Championship. The Buffs, led by head coach
Darren Flowers, picked up their second-consecutive conference title while placing seven All-Conference runners in the top-15.
"It was really important for us to go into this meet and perform well and walk out with a team championship," noted Flowers. "We knew coming in that we had several individuals that could occupy those top few spots but our sights were set on the team race. These guys knew what was at stake and knew there was a target on our back but they came out and got it done. I couldn't be more proud of them."
The LSC Championship was held at the former Hawk Ridge Golf Course in Wichita Falls, Texas and was hosted by Midwestern State. The men's race was run on an 8K loop and began at 9:30 a.m., while the women competed in a 6K course which commenced at 10:30 a.m. In the men's field with the No. 17 Buffs were Angelo State, Cameron, Eastern New Mexico, Tarleton State, Texas A&M-Commerce and Texas A&M-Kingsville. The LSC has held cross country championships for the men each year since 1982, and WT won its first title last year. TAMUK (1984, 1986) and ENMU (2011, 2012) have won the event as well.
WT dominated on the men's side with a total of 28 points. Finishing second was ENMU with 81 points followed by TSU in third with 90 points. Rounding out the rest of the field were TAMUC (fourth, 91 points), Cameron (fifth, 100 points), ASU (sixth, 131 points) and TAMUK (seventh, 191 points).
The Buffs were led by senior
Brett Villarreal who finished second overall with a time of 25:24.20. Also finishing in the top-five were freshman
Geoffrey Kipchumba in fourth at 25:32.10 and sophomore
Steve Lagat in fifth with a time of 25:40.30. Each of the top-15 runners in the race will pick up All-Conference honors. Rounding out the scorers for WT were senior
Armando Rueda (eighth, 25:59.80) and senior
Baptiste Moreu (ninth, 26:02.80). Juniors
Cameron Gifford (11
th, 26:14.20)
Zach Daniel (13
th, 26:20.00) also picked up All-Conference honors with top-15 finishes.
"This is definitely the best team performance we've had all year," added Flowers. "We narrowed our 1-5 gap down to around 40 seconds and the 1-7 gap to about 55 seconds which is what it takes to be successful at the national level. I'm proud of how the guys stepped up for the team today."
WT will return to action in two weeks, on Saturday, Nov. 22, as it competes in the NCAA South Central Regional Championships. The 10K race will be held in Denver, Colo. and will be hosted by Metro State University. The Buffs will aim to finish in the top-six spots to earn a second-consecutive trip to the NCAA National Championships in December.
