Freshman Ashley Lovato (Cibola HS, Albuquerque, NM) admitted to being a little nervous before Saturday’s Lobo Invitational at UNM's North Golf Course, but the newcomer to HU cross country wasted little time taking over as the Cowgirls number-one runner. "I asked Ashley if she was nervous before the race and she said 'a little'. I told her not to be afraid of the college competition," said HU coach Bob DeVries, "but I was a little surprised when she was right with the leaders after a few hundred meters."
The HU coach didn't need to worry as Lovato stayed strong over the 5K course and finished 19th in the very fast Lobo field. Her time of 19:40 bettered the time she ran as a senior at Cibola on the same course by more than 45 seconds. "19th might not sound like much--but the top 10 girls all broke the course record," noted the HU coach, "It was a fast, fast race."
The Cowgirls top returner--Carolina Garcia (Sr., Los Angeles, CA) also improved significantly over her 2008 performance. Garcia (22nd, 20:03) beat last year's time by over one-minute and moved up steadily throughout the race. "If we can get Ash and Carolina racing together, we can have a pretty good one-two punch," said DeVries.
On the men's side, sophomore Nicaise Kazingo picked up right where he left off in 2008 to open the 2009 season. The 2008 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year, Kazingo came within less than one second of taking top honors among college runners at the Lobo Meet. After stalking UTEP's Nicodemus N'getich for most of the race, Kazingo passed the Miners top runner with just few hundred meters to go. A strong rush at the tape saw N'getich pass Kazingo for the win in 24:57 for the 5-mile course.
"This was a great meet for Nicaise. The UTEP guy is a DI All-American runner, so for Nicaise to take him to the wire stamps him as one of the top guys in DII this season," said DeVries.
NMHU newcomer Moses Kirui had a strong showing as well in his first race for the Cowboys. A freshman from Kenya who has been in the USA for less than two weeks, Kirui donned racing shoes for the first time ever on Saturday and recorded an 11th place finish at the Lobo meet. "Moses was with the lead pack for the first 3 miles. He is going to get stronger as the season goes on," said HU assistant coach Joe Quintana.
Also racing well in his first outing as Cowboy was former New Mexico state high school cross country champion Mario Armijo. Armijo, from tiny Pecos, NM, was HU's fourth runner on Saturday and the coaches liked what they saw. 'Mario actually sprained his ankle pretty good a week ago, so he was a little tentative, "said DeVries, "I expect he is going to close the gap to our number three man next time out. He is really going to be a good one."
No team scores were kept at the Lobo Invite. UNM, New Mexico State, UTEP, Highlands and the Dukes TC fielded teams in the meet. Both the men and women will travel to Texas Tech for a meet on September 18th.
Click HERE for Complete Men's Result from the UNM Lobo Invite
Click HERE for Complete Women's Result from the UNM Lobo Invite
GO COWBOYS & COWGIRLS!!!