BLINN CROSS COUNTRY TEAMS WIN REGIONAL TITLES

Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information

The Blinn College men’s and women’s cross country teams made history Friday night.

The Buccaneer men and women won their respective NJCAA Region 14 Championship races on the campus of Brenham High School in Brenham, Texas.

The region title wins were firsts for both programs after Blinn relaunched cross country last season.

Jacksonville College and Texas Southmost College also competed in the events, as did a handful of individual competitors from Victoria College and Bossier Parish Community College.

“I was very excited about how today went all the way around, from hosting the event and being able to bring junior college cross country to Brenham, to how we competed in both races,” Bucs head coach Jesse Parker said.

A total of 15 Buccaneers across both teams earned all-region honors. First-, second-, and third-team all-region recognition was awarded to individuals who finished in the top 15. Places one through five were awarded first-team honors; six through 10 were named second-team; and 11 through 15 were named third-team.

The 12th-ranked Buccaneer men took the team crown with a score of 20 in the 8-kilometer race, led by first- and second-place finishes from freshmen Matthew Binkley and Ryan Fernandez, respectively. Binkley crossed the finish line in 24 minutes, 22 seconds, while Fernandez clocked in at 24:41. Sophomores Eric Lagat and Christian Gonzalez were fourth and fifth with times of 25:08 and 25:13, respectively. 

Freshman Brandon Lopez finished eighth in 25:48, while fellow freshman Aidan Hernandez took 14th in 26:38.

“We were pretty confident, but we didn’t want to get too excited and start too fast,” Binkley said. “Our mindset coming into the race was to come in strong and confident, but still do the job to the best of our ability. We each did what we were supposed to do, and I think that’s why we were able to take this one home.”

Parker said he was impressed with the way his men’s team tackled the hilly course, adding that weeks of on-site preparation prevented the Bucs from being overwhelmed on race day.

“We had a strategic approach to where we knew what the terrain was going to be and knew that we didn’t want to burn ourselves out on the hills at the very beginning of the race,” Parker explained. “The guys ran it the way they needed to in order to be successful.”

In the 5K women’s competition, the 20th-ranked Buccaneers prevailed with 24 points.

Blinn captured three of the top five spots and seven of the top 10.

Leading the way was sophomore Clare White, who earned a second-place finish with a time of 18:50.

White said on-site, pre-race preparation helped the Bucs familiarize themselves with the challenges of Friday’s course and also took away some of the nerves of running a brand new route.

“We were out here a bunch leading up to today’s race, and having practiced out here already, we stepped to the starting line with that experience and familiarity in our minds,” White explained. “It was still difficult, but we have the mindset of pushing through; if we run faster, we’ll finish faster, and that’s usually a pretty effective approach.”

Following White to the finish line were freshman Chloe Ross (18:59) and sophomore Mia Guillen (19:12), who finished fourth and fifth, respectively. 

Sophomore Sophie Pyle was sixth in 19:35, and sophomore Juliana Jeansonne took seventh in 19:47. Freshmen Kaitlin Wilson and Rosario Botello cracked the top 10 (ninth and 10th) with times of 20:00 and 20:14, respectively.

Sophomore Savanna Thaw was 13th in 21:18, and freshman Kylee Bartee rounded out Blinn’s all-region performances with a 14th-place time of 23:19.

“I was very proud of the way our women’s team ran today,” Parker said. “Our strength is pack running, and I think part of that comes from how close these athletes are outside of competition. The culture they’ve created and how they get along with each other is represented in how they race.”

The Blinn men’s and women’s teams will now take a break from competition to prepare for the NJCAA Division I Men’s & Women’s Cross Country Championship and NJCAA Division I Men’s & Women’s Half Marathon Championship on Saturday, Nov. 8, and Tuesday, Nov. 11, in Fort Dodge, Iowa.