Saturday

Central Arizona College hosted the 4th annual CAMPY Invitational on Saturday.  The course, which tours the serene campus of Signal Peak, offers different terrain than the standard golf course. 

"You won't find fast grass here"  Stated Coach Jon Harmon "The course can really be a challenge but I admire the teams for coming out and stepping up to that challenge."

This year's meet hosted 7 teams.  Mesa Community College, Glendale Community College, College of Southern Nevada, Phoenix College, Estrella Mountain Community College, Pima College, and Ottawa University all sent representatives, respectively. 

"I appreciate the local institutions and Southern Nevada for coming out to support Arizona Junior College Running" Stated Harmon.  "This was the only open meet hosted by a 2 year institution this season, so their support means a lot."

The name CAMPY is an acronym for the retired Coaches and Administrators of CAC:

C stands for Chuck Schnoor who was the athletic director for nearly a decade in the mid 2000's;

A stands for Al Shirley who is retired NJCAA Hall of Fame Track and Field Coach;

M stands for Mike Gray who helped lead CAC to 5 National Titles in cross country during his time at CAC;

P stands for Paul Tavares who helped lead CAC to 5 National Titles in cross country during his time at CAC;

Y stands for the late George Young who is the architect of the program.  Coach Young represented Arizona and the USA in 4 Olympic Games.  Coach Young was represented by his wife, Nancy Young. 

CAC took home champion honors, placing 5 in the top 10, and winning the meet with a score of 20 points.  Southern Nevada was runner up with a total score of 61 points. 

The Vaqueros were led by Japhet Kiprono.  Japhet toured the 8km course in 25:52 and was the top finisher in the race of 46 men.  This marks the second race that Japhet has led the Vaqueros in scoring.  

Rounding out scoring for the Vaqueros were:

Sulliman Rodriguez (26:35) placed 3rd overall.

Sandile Pule (26:41) placed 5th overall and ran a new personal best.

Marius Delchard (27:07) placed 8th overall.

Jorge Felix Valle (27:19) placed 10th overall and ran a new personal best. 

Emmanuel Simiyu (27:25) placed 12th overall.

"The men ran well today, I was quite happy with what we were able to accomplish"  Stated Harmon, "We didn't run two of our top 5 in order to give some other guys an opportunity to step up and they did just that".

CAC will be back in action on 10/11 as they travel to the Manny Bautista Invitational held by San Diego Mesa College.