Halloween brings more tricks than treats for Mavericks
October 31st, 2015 Johnson County Community College, Olathe, KS
Despite the cold, dreary weather, the Mavericks all ran within best their best times of the season. Freshman Purity Jepleting (MA, Kenya) finished 22nd out of 96 athletes with a less than PR time of 21:02.0. She was disappointed in her time but pleased to be in the top 25% of the Region. Jepleting has been fighting a seasonal cold all week and it seemed to get the best of her at this meet. She is looking for one final shot at a new PR at the National Meet in mid November.
The top 3 women's teams were Butler CC, Barton CC, and Allen CC. The women's winner was, of course, Barton's Lydia Mato, who has been a powerhouse in NJCAA distance running for 2 years now.
Only the four freshmen competed for the Maverick Men's team. Sophomore Jameslee Banning (EL, Burden, KS) was recovering from an ongoing knee issue. He hopes to make a full recovery by Track season. Finishing first for the Mavericks was Jeffrey Lazo (AT, Denver, CO). He finished 33rd out of 109 runners with a time of 28:13.2. Much like Jepleting, he was unhappy that he didn't PR, but his place in the top 30% of Region VI is the best finish in Northwest Tech history. He, too, looks to improve at Nationals.
Finishing 3rd for the Mavericks was Daniel Alvarado (CGT, Cozad, NE). His time was a new PR of 31:05.1. He beat his previous best by 7 seconds. Alvarado was excited to PR on such a bad weather day. He came in 88th place. His has been working on beating fellow teammate Ace Arteaga (EL, Goodland, KS) most of the season.
Arteaga has been experiencing some knee pain since before the Fort Hays meet. The knee injury combined with a wet and cold course spelled trouble. He covered the 8k course in 33:56.3 to finish in 104th place. This was certainly not the race that he had hoped to end the season with. Arteaga will be rehabbing his knee injury to be ready for spring track.
The top three teams in the Region were Allen, Butler, and Barton. The winner of the men's race was Barton's Laari Sampson.
The top 3 Maverick men and woman will travel to Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge, IA on November 12th for a date with the national elite runners from all of the NJCAA.