Men's Cross Country won the NJCAA Region I Cross Country Championship meet on Saturday, October 29 at Central Arizona College.  The Pumas scored an impressive 25 points in the seven-college race, defeating runner-up Mesa Community College's 31 point total by placing their five scoring runners in the 3rd through 7th places overall and placing their entire team of seven runners in the top 13 individuals overall.  "I felt like we had a solid race today," stated head coach David Barney, "The guys went out and got the job done."  

The Pumas were led by Nathan Pestka's 3rd place finish in a time of 25:49.1 over the 8000m course.  Following Pestka were: Jonathan Barney, 4th in 26:00.5; Pierce Vittone, 5th in 26:02.6; Gilbert Olivas, 6th in 26:07.9; Jason Lundgren, 7th in 26:14.5; Oscar Gonzales, 10th in 26:25.4; and Chaz Miller, 13th in 26:48.6. All seven Pumas garnered All-Region honors. 

Puma Women's Cross Country also raced Saturday at the Region I Championship and came home with a 3rd place finish. "Our women did a nice job today," commented coach Barney, "We have six freshmen on the team, so this was their first college championship race, and they handled it well!"

The Puma women were led by Jazmin Estrada's 10th place finish with a time of 20:54.1.  Estrada was followed by: Anilee LeSueur, 13th in 21:41.0; Aspen LeSueur, 15th in 22:37.6; Hannah Lowe, 22nd in 25:15.5; and Saree Ochoa, 27th in 29:11.3.  Jazmin Estrada, Anilee LeSueur, and Aspen LeSueur were all named to the All-Region team. The individual winner of the race was Hayley Burns of Coconino College in a time of 18:03.7 over the 5000m course.

The Pumas' next competition will be the NJCAA National Championship in Tallahassee, FL on November 12.