2024 T-Bird (MXC) Season Preview

The New Mexico Junior College men's cross country team begins the 2024 season Aug. 23 in Snyder, Texas at the Western Texas College Open.

The men will race at 9 a.m. CDT with the women's race to follow.

The Thunderbirds are coming off a national championship in the Half Marathon in 2023 and a fourth-place finish at cross country nationals in Huntsville, Ala.

The T-Birds return two athletes, Cyprien Bille and Paul Maurer, from the 2023 cross country team and will have to replace All-American German Vega and half marathon national champion Tomas Vega.

"It's definitely hard to replace Tomas and German. I mean that's just with their ability and then you factor in their leadership ability as well. They were strong leaders and they led a lot by example," NMJC men's cross country head coach Jeff Becker said. "So I knew that coming into this year they'd be tough to replace, but I still think we have a great group coming in. I do wish we had a few more returners though."

"I would still look for Paul and Cyp to be leaders for us. I think they've got the ability to lead. They may not be quite at the level as where Tomas and German were, but I think they can be great vocal leaders for us."

The Thunderbirds added nine fresh faces to the cross country team this offseason as they flip the roster from 2023.  

"We have a lot of strong newcomers. They just need to develop and understand the college cross country philosophy," Becker said. "We started a little bit late training so we missed out on some key workouts. Killian LeBourhis, a young man from France, was our top runner in the time trial. He ran really well. Not too far behind him was Mohammed Mrahi from Morocco. I look for those two to kind of battle it out as our 1-2 for us and go from there."

Becker mentioned the leadership from former T-Birds Tomas and German, but it's the record book where their marks will be solidified for years to come.  

"The newcomers know them, they've paid enough attention to the online stuff from the twins so they want to achieve what those two did and that gives them something to shoot for this year. We've got some ability for sure and some of our athletes have the ability. Now, it's just putting in the work to get there."

The NJCAA will be competitive come November with a flurry of teams looking strong as we begin the year. The goal remains the same each year, compete for a top-5 spot come nationals time.  

"From what I know that is coming back from different teams and again from talking with different coaches throughout the summer, the men's competition could be very very tough this year across the board in the NJCAA," Becker said.

"I still think we have a great shot at placing really well and we still have that goal of being in the top-5 and I think we can do that, but it's going to be a little bit tougher than even it was last year and last year was tough. So the guys are going to have to understand that they're going to have to work hard and they're going to have to be ready to step up for the competition."

The Western Texas College Open is seen as a tuneup for the start of the 2024 cross country season. The ease of a 5k course will help the team before the courses ramp up to an 8k race for the rest of the year.

"We're looking to learn a little bit of how to compete. I think it's good that it's a 5k. They feel comfortable with that race distance," Becker said. "We do have a handful of our newcomers that are more 800 runners, and I believe they feel comfortable moving up to that 5k without just immediately jumping right into an 8k. I think it is a good stepping stone for them to run that 5k and that's what we plan on taking out of this meet is to learn from it and see who's a competitor and who runs hard."

The Thunderbird men's cross country season begins at 9 a.m. CDT in Snyder, Texas at the Western Texas Open Friday, Aug 23.