Tuesday

Central Arizona College Men's and Women's Cross Country Teams have lofty goals for the 24-25 season.  One of those goals, to build upon their results from last year, remains at the forefront of the plan.

"Our men's team started the season off in terrific fashion"  Stated Head Coach Jonathan Harmon, who enters his 14th season with the program.  " Unfortunately, we couldn't finish the season in the same manner."

The Vaqueros went into the National meet ranked 10th in the nation but ended up 7th out of 28 teams.  For most programs, a top 10 finish is excellent but for the Vaqueros it was a disappointment.

"Last season was a struggle, I had a few athletes who didn't buy into the program and we ended up falling short of our goals"  "I don't foresee that happening with this group, I expect better results and I know the men do too" stated Harmon.

The Vaqueros lead the Nation in consecutive top 10 finishes at the NJCAA National Meet and also lead the nation in the most total top 10 finishes at the National Meet.

This year the squad will be lead by returning sophomore Sam Gilson, who aims to improve from his top 30 result from last season at Nationals.  He will lead a very talented incoming group of freshman who will help the team's goal of getting back onto the podium.

"Sam came into season as focused as I have ever seen him!  "He's hungry and also is stepping into a leadership role which I feel was lacking the last few years.  I'm excited to see what level he can achieve, he's fit an ready to roll" mentioned Harmon.

Sam will lead a small but strong group of men into the 2024 season at the UCR Invitational held at Riverside, CA, which is the first meet of the season.  That race will take place on September 21st with the next week being the ACCAC Championship Meet.