September 14, 2023

The Central Arizona College Cross Country teams participated in the Southern Showcase, hosted by Jacksonville State in Alabama last week.  The course will simulate the NJCAA National Championships, which will be held in November.

The Vaqueras claimed 23rd place out of 36 teams.  Most of the schools participating at the meet were NCAA D1, D2, and NAIA Instiutions.  Major NCAA D1 schools in attendance was Auburn, Alabama, Ole Miss, Kentucky, Tulane, Mississippi State, and Memphis.

Top finisher for the Vaqueras went to Brianna Samuels, who toured the course in 19:50 which was good enough for 177th place overall.  There were 325 finishers in this years race.  In addition to Brianna placing as the Vaqueras top finisher, she also ran a new personal record. A mark she didn't hit until the end of last cross country season.

"I'm proud of Brianna and the other ladies today."  Stated Coach Jon Harmon.  "We arrived late the night before the race, slept only a handful of hours, and were back at it the next morning so we weren't as fresh as I had hoped." 

"Brianna has come a long way from last year, she continues to impress me each week. I'm happy she ran a PR today."  "The other ladies ran exceptional too, we had some very good teams here but they stood strong and learned to run closer as a pack."  "Alesyia and Jessica ran a solid PR, so I'm quite happy for them as well!"

The remaining Vaqueras finished as follows:

Alesyia Barlow (19:56) placed 176th overall and PR.

Temyra Bia (20:07) placed 196th overall.

Jessica Viera (20:37) 213th overall and PR.

Alexis Fisher (21:19) 240th overall.

Lasundari Baldwin (21:19) 241st overall.

The women will be back in action on September 30th at the ACCAC Conference Championships, which is being held by Central Arizona College.  The women will race at 8:45am which follows the men's race that starts at 8:00am.