Vaqueros Place 11th out of 30 teams at the Highlander Invitational, Top Junior College.
October 14, 2023
The Central Arizona College Cross Country Teams participated in the Highlander Invitational on Saturday. The meet, which was hosted by the University of California Riverside, boasts some of the top universities in California.
The Vaqueros claimed 11th place out of 31 teams. The schools participating at the meet were NCAA D1, NCAA D2, NAIA, and Junior Colleges. Some of the top schools in attendance were Nevada, UC Riverside, Long Beach St., Arizona State, UC San Diego, Northern Colorado, and Cal State Fullerton.
Top finisher for the Vaqueros yet again went to Julian Campos, who toured the course in 24:16 which was good enough for 19th overall. There were 303 runners in this years race. In addition to Julian placing as the Vaqueros top finisher, he also ran his personal best 8k, nearly shaving off 26 seconds from the mark he set last cross country season.
"I'm proud of Julian, he started the season with very high goals and since day one has been focused on those goals." Stated Head Coach Jon Harmon. "He will continue to make a name as one of the top American JUCO runner's in the nation."
"Sam, Asante, and Justice all ran personal records today." "The men really wanted to go out there and show that although we are a junior college that we can compete with universities any given day."
The Vaqueros were narrowly defeated by ASU, a 4 year institution with a budget and facilities twice the size of a junior college. However, the Vaqueros were the top junior college, defeating #1 ranked Mesa Community College (D2) and 13th ranked Pima (D1).
The remaining Vaqueros finished as follows:
Samuel Gilson (24:23) placed 27th overall and new PR.
Asante Maez (25:43) placed 110th overall and new PR.
Micah Slivers (26:06) placed 135th overall.
Jorge Corona (26:10) placed 139th overall.
Jordan Myers (26:13) 141st overall.
Daniel Biakeddy (26:20) 147th overall.
Thomas MacAskill (26:46) 186th overall.
Seth Leslie (26:53) 191st overall and new PR.
Justice Bojorquez (27:58) 241st overall and new PR.
The men will be back in action on October 28th at the Region 1 Championships, which is being held by Glendale Community College. The men will race at 8:00am and the women will follow at 9:00am.