By James Kim (@Jdkim38):
The Mountain West Championships were held earlier today in Albuquerque, NM and both the men’s and women’s teams from San Jose State were there.
The men finished seventh out of eight teams while the women finished tied for fourth out of ten.
The golf course on the UNM campus was transformed into a looping track for the men’s’ 8k and women’s’ 6k races.
Sophomore Jennifer Sandoval won the All-Conference Award after the race.
Sandoval’s time of 21:22.41 was the best of the six Spartan runners, 14th place overall. Junior Jeanette Zambrano placed 24th finishing in 21:44.76 and freshman Kai Bohannon placed 30th with a time of 21:56.66.
On the men’s side, senior Huruy Zeratsion was the first Spartan to finish with a time of 25:13.07. Freshman Collin De Julio ran the race in 25:43.69.
New Mexico’s Ednah Kurgat took an early lead which would continue for the rest of the run. UNM runners finished in the top three spots for the tournament win. Kurgat’s 6k time was 19:58.77. Boise State University had three women runners in the top ten, and the team would take second overall.
Colorado State University’s Jerrell Mock won the men’s’ heat, as the Rams placed first, second and fifth in individual runs.
The 2020 conference tournament will be held in San Jose.
Both the men’s and women’s sides will next compete in the NCAA Regional Championships. The competitions will be held in Seattle, WA on Nov. 10, at Jefferson Park Golf Course.
