T-Bird Cross Country has strong showing at Lori Fitzgerald Invite

Saturday August 31, 2024 - 7:00 p.m. | Dylan DeVlieger

Mesa Cross Country competed in the Lori Fitzgerald Invite on Saturday, their first out-of-state race of their 2024 season.

Women's Cross Country:

The Lady T-Birds had a solid showing in the presence of NCAA and NJCAA DI schools. Mesa had four athletes finish in the top 50, led by freshman Kinley Jackson who came in 28th place (19:04), Lucy Melzer finished 31st (19:10), Marissa Hernandez came in 36th (19:32), and Katie Munoz who finished 41st (19:56).

One of the more impressive feats for the T-Birds was the separation between their scoring athletes. Just 67 seconds separated their top five and those athletes had less than 20 places between them.

Head coach Daniel Pescador was pleased with his ladies and the way they competed in such a different environment and against great competition. 

"I'm very proud of how the group competed. We told the women this was going to be a very fast race and good test for us. We haven't done any speed work and we told them just to trust their strength and compete, and they executed tremendously," said Pescador.

Men's Cross Country:

The T-Bird men had just as good of an outing as their counterparts. Nick Valle finished 29th (16:09) while Jorge Trujillo came in 30th (16:11), Corbin Pyle finished 34th (16:09), and Cal Schnepf came in 37th (16:11).

Pescador's T-Birds flexed their depth which is a strength for Mesa this year as there was just a 50 second difference between MCC's No. 1 and No. 7 runner. Just like with the ladies, Pescador and staff knew this would be new territory for the men and warned his team of what to expect.

"We told the men to expect a very fast pace, and get comfortable with being uncomfortable," said Pescador.

Both the men and women will be back in action next Saturday as they compete in the Embry Riddle Invite in Prescott, AZ.