Sept. 22, 2004

The West Texas A&M University men's and women's cross country teams take to the road this weekend for the New Mexico Highlands Invitational at Las Vegas, N.M. on Saturday, September 25th.

The women's race will start at 11 a.m. central time, followed by the men, who will begin at 11:30 a.m. The men will run their third meet of the season, while the women, who raced last weekend, will compete in their fourth event of the year.

The Lady Buffs, led by freshman Jisel Bailon who won last weekend's McMurray Invitational finishing the three mile course in a season-best 18:54, will look to Bailon and number two runner freshman Sharen Diggs, who posted her own season best 20:22 in last weekend's meet to finish well. Freshman Sara McCombs is also expected to contribute to the overall team standings with a strong run.

The men's team is led by senior Lito Belmontes whose four-mile season best 23:24 was recorded in the men's last race two weeks ago at the Abilene Christian Classic, and freshman Zach Valdez who also posted his season best of 23:47 in that race. Also contributing for the Buffs, are senior Ben Muniz who recorded his best time in the WTAMU home opener and senior Carmelo Morales whose best race came in Abilene.

The teams will continue their road series at the 95th Annual Oklahoma State Jamboree at Stillwater, Oklahoma on Saturday, October 3rd. Start times have yet to be announced.

-WT-