Broncbuster men take fifth; women sixth at Region Championships
By Mike Pilosof
Colby, KS-Dennis Mutai and the Broncbusters have put the rest of the nation on notice.
A week after earning National runner of the week honors, the freshman took second at the Region VI Championships on Saturday while his team came in fifth. The women were sixth.
Men's Recap
Mutai was in position to win the individual title, something that has eluded him since the opening meet of the season, but was passed towards the end of the race. He clocked a time of 24:06.91, his second-best performance of his career.
Kelvin Cheruiyot took ninth place (25:11.16), the second-best time of his college stint, Angel Ayala moved himself into top-25 position, finishing 23rd (26:47.91), and Jose "Froy" Ruiz returned from injury to place 51st with a time of 28:38.46. But the big push came from Holcomb native Zaccerie Penka, who replaced Eli Handsaker and finished 59th overall (29:16.92).
Women
Once the women's race began, the wind picked up significantly. But that didn't stop Valentine Lagat, who paced the Broncbusters with a ninth-place finish clocking a time of 19:54.12. Shareen Lagat was 17th (20:46.10), Jania Don Juan came in 38th (22:37.90), and Cielo Garcia, who returned from illness, took 55th place with a time of 24:08.92.
Meantime Holcomb native Andrea Serrano matched her personal-best performance on the challenging course, running 24:44.42 to finish 60th. Taylor thorp and Rebecca Potts finished 67th and 70th respectively.
Notes: Mutai, Cheruiyot, and Lagat were received All-Conference and All-Region honors.