Rangers finish 23rd out of 25 teams at NCAA South Central Regional Championships

Nov 04 | By: Caty Llamas, Athletics Graduate Assistant

LUBBOCK, Tex. – The Regis University men's cross country team competed in the NCAA South Central Region Championships on Saturday, defeating two teams for the first time in over a decade.

"I was really excited about the finish today. We had not beat multiple teams in the region since the mid-2010s and that's with a few teams not showing up and dropping out during the race that we would've beaten," said Regis men's cross country coach, Evan Verbal. "I was really excited to see us execute probably our best collective race of the year."

The Rangers placed 23rd out of 25 teams, beating Texas A&M Kingsville and University of Arkansas-Fort Smith.

"I was really excited. I think when I mapped it out as far as the times go, that was just about as good of a day as we could've had. Like I said, I think if everyone in the region was there, there would've been more teams below us. I'm proud of the men just like the women."

Graduate student Wyatt Farace finished first for the Rangers, placing 93rd overall with a time of 32 minutes, 59.87 seconds.

"He crushed it. At first I was nervous about how fast he went out but he likes to go out hard and he was able to hold on. Breaking 33 minutes is definitely a milestone so I was definitely proud of him as he finishes his cross country career."

Finishing second for the Ranger was senior Judd Ogle with a time of 33:57.81 and placed 120th overall.

For the remaining four Regis runners, freshman Demetrious Brown placed 150th overall with a time of 35:55.09. Junior William Oakes, sophomore John Murphy, and senior Aaron Bennett finished 157th, 160th, and 157th respectively.

Oakes ran a time of 37:14.29, Murphy ran in 37:22.84, and Bennett finished in 39:09.04.

"I think there's a really good chance we won't lose anybody so to have another year with the same group is really exciting. Recruiting is looking very good as well so we're going to have higher goals next year and continue our upward trajectory," said Verbal.

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