10/15/22

The Vaqueros and Vaqueras competed at the Highlander Invitational held in Riverside, CA on Saturday.  The weather, near perfect, aligned with Central Arizona's goal of producing quality results as both squads bested multiple universities, respectively.  

The Vaqueros finished 12th overall out of a respectable 25 teams.  They were led by super freshman Julian Campos, who toured the 8km in a blazing 24:42 which was good enough for 38th overall.  Julian's performance also places him in the top 10 all-time at the UCR course for Central Arizona.  Not far behind Julian was Alazar Getahun (25:09) for 68th place, Elliot Smith (25:36) was 89th overall, Gift Mashilo (25:55) placed 105th overall, and rounding out scoring for the men was Jorge Corona  (26:00) for 110th place.

"The men really stepped up today and made a statement going into the last few weeks of the season.  I was quite impressed with Julian, Jorge, Asante, and Joseph for how they challenged each other and the team to help us finish 12th overall" Stated Head Coach Jon Harmon.

The men found themselves in front of 2 NCAA Division 1 schools, 2 NCAA Division 2 schools, 6 NCAA Division 3 schools, 1 NAIA school, and 2 Junior Colleges.  They placed in front of in state rival Mesa Community College for the second week in a row, respectively.    

The Vaqueras also had much success against the universities, as they finished 15th out of 27 schools.  The women's team bested 3 NCAA D2 schools, 6 NCAA D3 schools, and 2 Junior Colleges.  Mesa Community College, who entered the race as the top D2 school in the nation, ended up having their entire team drop out of the race sans one runner.  

"The ladies ran their best race this season as nearly everyone ran a 5k pr in a 6k race"  "We also had some shuffling in our top 7 with our 4-7 runners really starting to get stronger each week" Stated Harmon.  "Beatrice, Jaida, Lisbet, and Melissa all ran fantastic especially since the 6k distance is not the distance we normally race."

The Vaqueras were once again led by Beatrice Keditukei, the sophomore from Kenya cruised the 6k course in 22:16, which is also a new personal best for her.  Second for the team was Jaida Lyles, who ran her first ever 6k in an impresssive 22:37.  Lisbet Porras also ran a new personal best 6k in 22:53. Melissa Ruse (24:32) and Jaedyn Brown (24:51) rounded out scoring for the team, respectively.

The men and women both have two weeks off from racing before the ACCAC Regional meet which will be held at Signal Peak Campus in Coolidge, AZ on October 29.

For complete results from the Highlander Invitational, click here.