T-Bird Women's XC Starts Perfect in Snyder

The New Mexico Junior College women's cross country team finished with a perfect score at the Western Texas College Open 5k.

The women were just as dominant as the men Friday morning with the first nine runners coming across the line wearing NMJC uniforms.

Damaris Chewon finished in first place for the fourth time in her two-year career. The Kapsabet, Kenya native came across the line in just under 20 minutes with a time of 19:59.40. 

Sophomore Carolyne Kimaiyo finished in second place for the T-Birds after completing the race in 21:32.40. Jayne Elvin was the first newcomer to finish coming in third place (21:40.60).

Sophomore Vanessa Gallegos was slightly behind Elvin in fourth place. The sophomore completed the race in 21:45.90. Rounding out the scoring for the women was freshman Tyfane Martins. The Brasilia, Brazil native finished in fifth place with a time of 22:36.00. 

The first through fifth-place finish gave the T-Birds a perfect score of 15 points, which secures an automatic first place team finish in Snyder, Texas.  

Returner Morgan Waltmire ran the race 5k in 22:39.70 to finish in seventh place for the T-Birds. Freshman Francesca Alvarado was one spot behind in eighth place (23:09.90). 

Lisanne Schapendonk followed Alvarado with a ninth-place finish of 23:30.70. Daphne Kausz was the final runner for the T-Birds on the course as she crossed the finish line in 16th place with a time of 26:12.10. 

"The ladies ran well, but we do have a long way to go," cross country head coach Jeff Becker said. "Damaris looked good winning the meet and Carolyne ran much better than last year to finish in second. Our 2-5 runners need to be closer to Damaris if we want to do well as a team later in the season." 

The women travel to Las Cruces, NM to participate in the Lori Fitzgerald Memorial Open Sept. 2.