South Plains College’s Moses Mpanga recently took home the individual title at the Subway-SPC Country Invitational. Mpanga’s first-place finish helped propel the Texans to a second place in the team standings and a share of the NJCAA Region title. Mpanga, a freshman from Kampala Uganda, finished the 4-mile course in 19:21.7. Also contributing was sophomore Stephen Lemiso, who placed fourth with a time of 20:30.3. Freshman Micha Sharman finished eighth with a time of 21:46.4, while fellow freshmen Calvin Day, Greg Jackson and Caesar Bueno all finished with times of 23:04.5, 23:25.0 and 23:40.6, respectively.

The Lady Texans, who finished third in the team competition, were also represented strongly by freshman Lydia Kimeli, who finished fifth with a time of 18:44.7. Ruby Crox finished the 3.1 mile course in 19:37.1 to place 12th while her teammate and sister Amy Garcia was 14th in 19:46.8.

Also participating for the Lady Texans were freshman Heather Waygood and Jessica Key, who placed 19th and 38th respectively, with times of 20:30.7 and 23:12.4.

The South Plains College Texan and Lady Texan cross country squads also had a strong second-place finish at the Angelo State Invitational. The Texans and Lady Texans were helped by individual titles from Kimeli and Mpanga. Kimeli finished the five-kilometer course in 19:08, more than 40 seconds faster than the second-place finisher.

Also finishing strong for the Lady Texans were Garcia, Crox and Waygood, with Garcia finishing eight in 20:56 and Crox placing ninth and Waygood coming in 12th.

Finishing strong for the Texans was Mpanga, who blazed through the five-mile course in 26:18. Lemiso finished second with a time of 26:48.

Sharman finished fourth with a time of 28:07, and Day was 21st with a time of 30:27. The Texans also had two other runners finish the race, as Jackson finished 23rd and Bueno was 34th.