FAYETTEVILLE, Ark - Two Tornados secured top-15 finishes, while a total of four Concordia Texas cross country athletes reached new personal bests at the 46th Annual Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival on Friday.
In the the men's 8k where Division II & III athletes competed, CTX placed fifth overall (27th overall in 2022). Junior Kamron Loera (26:33.0) reached the podium as he finished 5th overall. Thomas Hughes (27:10.1) PR'd by an astounding 41 seconds and placed 15th in the race.
Rookie runner Matthew Kangas cracked the top-50 in the loaded field with a time of 28:08.7, while Samuel Valdez finished at 29:05.4. Sophomore Aaron Ramos also crushed his previous PR by 27 seconds at 29:25.8
Rounding out the scoring for the men's team was Alexandro Barrera (29:51.0) and Dion Arriaga (30:13.2) as all seven competitors crossed the finish line in the top half of the race.
Click here to view the men's results.
In the women's 5K, the Tornados finished 21st overall with Belkin Vega-Molina leading the way at 23:23.7.
Ashley Rivera beat out her previous best time at 23:57.5, and Mackenzie Dixon soared to a new low time of 25:10.5 (previous PR was 26:07.5).
Making her cross country debut was track and field star Mattison Stayrook who finished at 30:11.4. The final scorer for CTX was Lluvia Rodriguez who crossed at 30:17.1.
Concordia Texas will now head back to the Lone Star state to compete in the DBU Old Glory Gallop in Grand Prarie Texas next Saturday, October 7th.
Click here to view the women's results.
CTX MEN FINISHERS (8K)
5) Kamron Loera 26:33.0
15) Thomas Hughes 27:10.1
49) Matthew Kangas 28:08.7
78) Samuel Valdez 29:05.4
92) Aaron Ramos 29:25.8
106) Alexandro Barrera 29:51.0
117) Dion Arriaga 30:13.2
272) FINISHERS 56:15.2
CTX WOMEN FINISHERS (5K)
100) Belkin Vega-Molina 23:23.7
110) Ashley Rivera 23:57.5
133) Mackenzie Dixon 25:10.5
168) Mattison Stayrook 30:11.4
169) Lluvia Rodriguez 30:17.1
179) FINISHERS 38:23.8
To keep up to date with everything surrounding the CTX cross country program, follow us on social media (@ctxathletics) and visit athletics.concordia.edu.
