NMJC (WXC) Perfect in Snyder
The NMJC women's cross country team won the Western Texas College Open 5k with a perfect score of 15.
The T-Birds took down first-year program Odessa College by 45 points and Western Texas College by 54 points.
Freshman Amal Kachouri of Tunisia won individually with a time of 21:10.40. For reference the time was a minute 11 seconds slower than last season's half marathon individual national champion Damaris Chewon. However, this year the course was in a more difficult condition than in years past.
Ines Mrabet came across the finish line in second place a little over 14 seconds behind Kachouri. The freshman finished in 21:24.90 and is the second of three Tunisian freshmen on the team.
NJCAA All-American Jayne Elvin was the third runner for the T-Birds to place. The Englishwoman was third for the second consecutive year finishing with a 21:45.10, which was five seconds off the pace from last year.
"I think we ran strong with our top three for sure," NMJC women's cross country head coach Jeff Becker said. "The times are normally slow on this course. However, I think they were even slower this year than normal. I think Jayne was close to her time that she ran last year, and she got third last year as well."
"I was hoping maybe we'd be a little bit faster with our top two, when I compared to what Damaris did last year, but overall I can't complain with those girls up there at the top."
Francesca Alvarado was a bright spot for the Thunderbirds in fourth place with a time of 22:07.20. The Texan improved by a minute and two seconds compared to last year's race going from eighth to fourth this season. Alvarado has been able to carry some good form from the outdoor track season that saw her run at nationals in the steeplechase.
"Last week Francesca's time was the fastest we've ever had for an American here at NMJC and we've had a lot of Americans come in and end up as All -Americans," Becker said. "Francesca was a very happy surprise. I saw it coming a little bit, so I kind of challenged her at the end of outdoor track last year before she went home for summer break. Every day in practice she's right there behind Jayne. It's a good surprise, and I look for her to continue to keep building from there."
Emilly Silva rounded out the team score with a fifth-place finish of 22:16.60. The Brazillian's finish earned NMJC a perfect score after placing 1-5 in the 5k. Freshman Lisel Ndlovu was sixth in the race after completing the run in 22:32.30. Sophomore Tyfane Martins came in ninth with a time of 22:57.70.
The third and final member of the Tunisian trio, Hadil Chiha, finished in 10th place after posting a 23:19.30.
Daphne Kausz was by far the most improved returning sophomore with her 12th place finish in Snyder, Texas. The Frenchwoman was two minutes and 22 seconds faster than her 2023 time as she crossed the finish line in 23:50.10. Jody Ann Mitchell was the final member to complete the race placing 21st with a time of 27:15.00.
"The biggest thing that I wanted them to understand is yes it was great to win and to have a perfect score and everything but the people we beat here, no disrespect, are not the competition that we will see going forward," Becker said. "So, as we start building into these next couple meets, going to New Mexico State and Texas Tech, we're going to start running against the competition that is at our level. Hopefully they realize that this is only the beginning, and we need to keep building off of this week."
The T-Birds next meet will be at New Mexico State's golf course on Saturday, Aug. 31 at 7:30 a.m. MDT in Las Cruces, NM.