Hill College Men’s Cross Country Three-Peats, Women finish best-ever second at NTJCAC Championships

The Hill College men’s and women’s cross country teams narrowly missed out on a conference sweep Saturday at the North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference (NTJCAC) Championships at Harry McAdams Park in Hobbs, N.M. as the men captured its third title in a row while the women placed second overall.

The NTJCAC Championship is also held in conjunction with the NTJCAC Region V Championships, in which the Hill College men’s team finished fourth.

Hill College’s men finished with 38 points in conference, four points ahead of runner-up Ranger College. North Central Texas College finished third with 45 points. El Paso Community College won the Region 5 title with 41 points, followed by New Mexico Junior College with 64 and Odessa with 82. Hill College finished with 116 points

Sophomore Josh Gill (New Zealand) successfully defended his NTJCAC title and was eighth overall in the region after finishing the 8-kilometer course with an overall time of 24:21. Freshman Isaac Arredondo placed seventh (24th overall) in 26:05; sophomore Sam Falkstein finished eighth (27th overall) in 26:13; freshman Max Austin, 10th in conference and 32nd overall in 26:33; and freshman Elmahyah Chacha, 13th in conference and 38th overall in 27:11, rounding out the five-person scoring team.

In addition, Garison Grizzle finished 15th in the conference and 44th overall in 27:24, and Samuel Pepe was 17th in the conference and 46th overall in 27:26.

“This was a total team effort,” Hill College Head Cross Country Coach Greg Lautenslager said. “Our No. 3 man, Miguel Sanchez was, out with a lower leg injury, but we have a very deep team and competed well to get the title.”

Lautenslager said Hill College was behind Ranger College the first two miles but rallied in the late stages to overcome their opposition.

“Sam (Falkstein) stepped in a hole and turned his ankle in the last mile,” Lautenslager said, “but he shrugged it off and outsprinted a Ranger College runner in the final 400 meters. These are very tough competitors.”

The Hill College women’s team came the closest to ever taking the NTJCAC title, finishing second with 45 points and only 10 points behind Ranger College. NCTC was third with 53 points, and Cisco College finished fourth with 92.

Also, the Hill College women tied for fifth with Amarillo College in the region with 129 points. New Mexico Junior College won the region with 35 points.

Freshman Katie Garza (Calallen) was the top American finisher and missed All Region honors by one spot. She finished runner-up in conference and was 11th overall with a time of 19:28.

Lautenslager said it was the best regional finish in Hill College history.

Aimee Clarke was the second American finisher, placing third in conference and 14th overall with a time of 19:53; Angela Coronado placed 10th in conference and 31st overall in 20:52; Elaina McCulloch took 14thin conference and 39th overall in 21:38; and Avery McCoy completed the scoring by placing 16th in conference and 44th overall in 21:48.

Laila Vazquez, Hill’s only sophomore on the women’s squad, finished 17th in conference and 49th overall in 23:18. Abby Olague was 23rd in conference and 53rd overall in 25:44.

“These student-athletes have worked hard to turn the women’s program into a title contender,” Lautenslager said. “They should be very proud of their efforts this season.”

The conference meet was the third team victory for the Hill College men’s team this season. They dominated the University of Dallas Invitational on Sept. 14 and the North Central Texas College (NCTC) meet in Gainesville on Oct. 11. Gill won the NCTC race by 45 seconds.

The Hill College women’s team won the University of Dallas and NCTC meets. Garza set a school 5K cross country record with 18:54 at the DBU Old Glory Gallop Meet in Grand Prairie on Oct. 5.

The men’s and women’s cross country teams will compete in the NJCAA Cross Country Championships in Richmond, Virginia, on Nov. 9.

For more information on the Hill College men’s and women’s cross country programs, please visit https://hillcollegeathletics.com.