Thunderbird (MXC) Places 4th in Lubbock, Mrahi Finishes 11th

Freshman Mohammed Mrahi led the way for NMJC in 11th place at the Texas Tech Invitational 8k in Lubbock, Texas on Friday, Sept. 13. The Moroccan's first 8k race was clocked at a time of 25:24.36. 

The Thunderbirds finished the meet in fourth place overall with 104 points. NMJC edged Odessa College by 75 points as the top junior college finisher. NMJC finished ahead of DI UTEP by 34 points. Texas Tech won the meet with 28 points, West Texas A&M came in second with 47 points and Western New Mexico was third with 79 points.  

Brian Cheruiyot was a few spots behind Mrahi in 13th place. The freshman runner came across the line in 25:32.62. Emmanuel Kimaiyo was in the familiar three spot for NMJC. Kimaiyo placed 27th with a time of 26:24.61.

Killian LeBourhis was right behind his teammate Emmanuel in 28th place coming across the finish line in 26:25.37. Paul Maurer was in great form this week. Maurer became the final scoring runner for NMJC in 37th place with a finish of 26:56.80. 

Cyprien Bille had another solid run placing 42nd with a time of 27:12.33. Israel Takap has been a bright spot for the men's team this year. Takap was unheralded as a recruit when he arrived in the fall. He has steadily improved so far this season with the success continuing this week at the Texas Tech Invitational in the form of a 43rd-place finish of 27:17.09. 

Cyrus Kimaiyo was the last of the trio of runners crossing the line in unison. The freshman placed 44th on his way to a 27:20.30 finish.  

Erwan Darrieulat finished in 59th place with a time of 28:00.02. Romain Gireme completed the 8k in 75th place finishing in 28:36.58. Nathan Bonavida was the final runner for NMJC coming in 99th place across the finish line in 30:10.16.

The Thunderbirds will be back in action for their first home meet of the season Friday, Sept. 20 at 9:45 a.m. MDT in Hobbs, NM at Harry McAdams Park.