Red Raiders Open Season in Abilene

Saturday, August 31

Abilene, Texas

8:30 A.M.

Texas Tech Athletics

Naimadu Classic

August 31, 2019 | Cross Country

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Red Raiders place second on both men’s and women’s side.

By: Jeremy O'Brien

ABILENE, Texas – The Texas Tech cross country team opened its season Saturday morning at Abilene Christian's Naimadu Classic. The Red Raiders placed second as a team on both the men's and women's sides.

"This was a good effort by both groups," said head coach Jon Murray. "It looked like the first meet for us – we have improvements to make but I anticipate both groups will respond well to the challenge."

Tech's underclassmen led the way in Abilene. The men's group had two sophomores and two freshmen as its top four finishers in the 6k. Luke Estes led the team, turning in a 19:26.22 for a third-place overall finish. Bennet Barnett took fifth, finishing five seconds behind his fellow sophomore with a 19:31.96. Freshmen Richard Taylor (seventh) and Bryce Boggs (ninth) brought up the next two scoring places for Tech. Senior Grant LaSelle (19:51.73) rounded out the top-10 as the fifth Red Raider in the first group to cross the finish line.

The women's group placed two in the top-five of the 4k. Led by Jazmyn Martinez and her fourth-place 14:54.33, the Lady Raiders tallied 31 points. Binta Ka placed fifth with a 15:03.17. Finishing in seventh and eighth were Claudrice McKoy (15:15.80) and Sydney White (15:16.92). Hanna Sanchez was sandwiched between the four Red Raiders, running unattached and finishing sixth with a 15:07.84.

Next for Tech will be its lone home meet of the fall on Sept. 21. The TTU Classic will kick off at 8:30 a.m.