Puma Cross Country traveled to La Crosse, WI last weekend for the Jim Drews/Tori Neubauer Cross Country Invitational and came home with their best showing of the season.  The meet, held on October 15 at the Maple Grove Venue in West Salem, featured a field of 30 teams comprised primarily of four-year universities. The temperature at meet time was forty degrees.  Neither variable deterred the Pumas as the men's team finished 5th overall, and the women placed 23rd.  

The men were led by sophomore Gilbert Olivas' 3rd place finish (out of 424 runners) in a time of  24:35.37 over the 8000m course.  Olivas was followed by freshman Jonathan Barney who placed 31st in a time of 25:48.1; freshman Nathan Pestka, 40th in 26:00.5; freshman Jason Lundgren, 56th in 26:15.2; sophomore Pierce Vittone, 69th in 26:24.7; freshman Chaz Miller, 78th in 26:29.7; freshman Oscar Gonzales, 113th in 26:53.0; and sophomore Jake Stein, 140th in 27:13.1. "Our guys had an outstanding meet," said head coach David Barney, "They went out and raced today!"   Meet host University of Wisconsin - La Crosse, won the team title, and Aspel Kiprob of Iowa Central Community College won the individual title in a time of 24:25.85.

On the women's side, the Pumas were led by Jazmin Estrada's 45th place finish (364 runners) with a time of 23:51.1.  Following Estrada were freshman Aspen LeSueur who placed 152nd in a time of 25:18.2; freshman Ani LeSueur, 161st in 25:25.2; freshman Hannah Lowe, 346th in 29:50.1; and freshman Saree Ochoa, 354th in 31:02.2. "I'm very proud of our women," commented Barney, "Every one of them put in a great effort today, and we're continuing to improve as a team.  I'm excited to see where we can go from here!"

The Pumas' next competition will be the NJCAA Region I Championship Meet on October 29 at 9:00am.  The meet will be held on the campus of Central Arizona College in Coolidge, AZ.