T-Bird (MXC) Wins 1st Meet of the Season in Snyder

The NMJC men's cross country team finished with 17 points on their way to a win at the Western Texas College Open 5k.

The Thunderbirds defeated Western Texas College by 43 points and upstart Odessa College by 44 points.

Freshman Mohammed Mrahi navigated the dust and rocky terrain to finish in first place with a time of 17:09.00. The Moroccan's time is 29 seconds behind T-Bird graduate Tomas Vega's first-place finish in 2023.

"So, Muhammad's just figuring it out. He's very talented," head men's cross country coach Jeff Becker said. "He's got some personal bests on the track that match what Tomas and German had coming in and I think he's got the ability. He's just adapting and learning." 

"I've been talking to the whole team that we couldn't run down to the level of the competition. About halfway through Mohammed realized that and ran a little closer to where his ability is." 

Coming across the line in second place was Brian Cheruiyot. The Kenyan surprised some folks with his time of 17:22.40.

"Brian had a great race, a lot better than what he did at the time trial," Becker said. "I've been on Brian a little bit just because I expect him to be a leader for us after joining the track team in the spring of 2023 and everything even though this is his first cross country season."

Time trial winner Killian LeBourhis placed third in the competition with a time of 17:35.50. Coach Becker is expecting big things from the freshman Frenchman in the coming weeks.

"I thought Killian ran well; he said his stomach was bothering him prior to the race which affected his time, but I still look for him to challenge as one of our top runners each week."

Cyrus Kimaiyo was fourth runner to finish Friday morning for the T-Birds. Kimaiyo, a freshman from Kenya finished in fifth place with a time of 17:56.80. Emmanuel Kimaiyo, brother of former T-Bird Carolyne Kimaiyo, was behind Cyrus in sixth place as he completed the race in 18:02.70 to round out the team score. 

"Cyrus and Emmanuel ran well. Time trial wise they were a little bit timid last week, so I didn't know what to expect," Becker said. "They ran much better this week, and I think they'll just continue to get better and better."

The top returner was Paul Maurer of Switzerland who came in seventh place after finishing his race in 18:10.40. Freshman Romain Gireme was a few seconds behind Maurer and came in eighth place with a time of 18:18.90.

Sophomore Cyprien Bille placed 11th in the race with a time of 18:28.70. The finish is 28 seconds faster than what he ran at the same course in 2023. Israel Takap, a Papua New Guinea native, was 12th overall in the race coming across the finish line in 18:50.30.

Freshman Erwan Darrieulat followed Takap in 13th place with a finish of 19:00.40 and Nathan Bonavida was the final runner for the Thunderbirds as he placed 19th in 19:23.80. 

The team is still working on its form especially after a late start to the season with some members of the squad showing up a week or so after training had first started earlier this month. 

"I think they ran okay place wise here, but I think a lot of them were looking at their previous 5k times and weren't necessarily as happy with it," Becker said. "But again, it's just about getting better with them and just continuing to work there."

The Thunderbirds next meet will be at New Mexico State's golf course on Saturday, Aug. 31 at 8 a.m. MDT in Las Cruces, NM.