Cross Country uses regionals as nationals warm up
Matt Schaeffer
With a week before nationals and already being qualified, Mesa’s cross country teams entered regionals without needing to win.A strong performance, however, is a great confidence boost and Mesa got that with a third place overall finish.
Melissa Peters, Julia Wild, Carlos Roa, Brian Sullivan and Abdikani Ismail all garnered Region I awards for Mesa.
The women’s race saw an exciting finish as freshman Ashley Workman from Paradise Valley came from behind Central Arizona sophomore Rebecca Hbetuma down the stretch to win.
Central Arizona was impressive with runners finishing second through sixth.
Peters was Mesa’s best runner taking seventh place.
The men’s race was a different story as Central Arizona sophomore Henry Lelie embarrassed the competition.
Lelie got out to an early lead and kept it up while lapping multiple runners on his way to what looked like an easy win.
Fellow Central Arizona sophomore David Justice came in second, 20 seconds behind Lelie.
Mesa freshman Carlos Roa, who has experienced a solid season, held third place for most of the race but fell to sixth in the end.
NJCAA Nationals are Nov. 13 in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
