RENO, Nev.-The New Mexico State women's cross country team made history today as it won the WAC Championship title in Reno, Nev., Saturday, Oct. 31.
With its first place finish in the WAC, this is the highest that NM State has finished in the programs history. The team finished with 29 points, more than 40 points ahead of second-place Utah State. The race was led by the Aggies own Courtney Schultz (Cloudcroft, N.M.) with a time of 19:11.4. Schultz who is a freshman on the team this year was named Athlete of the year as well as Freshman of the Year for the conference.
One second behind Schultz was her sister, Camille Schultz (Cloudcroft, N.M.), earning a second place finish in the conference. The Schultz sisters both earned first team All-WAC honors for their efforts in Reno. Also earning first team all-conference was senior Ingrid Flores (El Paso, Texas) as she placed seventh overall. Freshman Chelsa McDonnell (Klamath Falls, Ore.) and junior Brittany Hurtado (Albuquerque, N.M.) rounded out the top-10 placing seventh, ninth and 10th, respectively.
McDonnell, Hurtado, along with junior Brandi Gutierrez (El Paso, Texas) earned second team All-WAC accolades for their effort at the conference meet.
On the men's side, the Aggies placed fourth overall, a two spot improvement from last year's finish. The men were just 20 points shy of the second place team as they earned 87 points.
Leading the Aggies was sophomore Ian Ruybalid (Los Lunas, N.M.) in ninth place in the 8k. His time of 26:42.8 earned him second team all-conference honors. Just behind Ruybalid for the Aggies was freshmen Jonah Ruybalid (Los Lunas, N.M.) and Robert Selph (Rio Rancho, N.M.) in 16th and 17th overall. Also in the top spots for the Aggie men was Ryan Fenton (Albuquerque, N.M.) in 22nd with a time of 27:31.4.
Also earning high honors for NM State was coaches Paul Harkins and Meaghan Gregory. They were named WAC Coaches of the Year for their efforts with the team.
The women's team had six runners in the top-15 while the men placed three in the top-20.
The Aggies will return to action when the race in the 2009 NCAA Regional meet in Albuquerque, N.M. on November 14th.
Courtesy: New Mexico State University
