Tiger cross country team looking to recapture magic of last season's national title run
Coming off a historic 2021 season, the Cowley College men's cross country team will attempt to repeat as national champions. However, in order to do that they will need to have runners step up to make up for the loss of Adrian Diaz-Lopez and Amos Pkiach, who placed first and second individually at last year's national meet.
"We have big shoes to fill with having the 1-2 finish at nationals," Rieth said. "I am looking at the sophomores to see who will step up and be those guys. No doubt Santiago (Nunez-Gonzalez) and Camilo (Tarin) could be those guys, but we are still building."
Nunez-Gonzalez earned all-conference and All-American honors as a freshman, while Tarin was the state runner-up in the 1,600-meter run as a senior at Winfield High School. Tarin spent last season running at Hutchinson Community College where he placed 56th at the national meet with a personal best time of 26:45.1.
"The goal is to not compare ourselves to last year, but to continue to build and fall in love with the process," said Rieth, who was named USTFCCCA Division II Central Region Men's Coach of the Year as well as the NJCAA Division II Men's National Coach of the Year during the 2021 season.
Other sophomores the team will lean on are Joel Rodriguez, Goran Duijsters, Aidan Wells, Jacob Coronado, Edgar Reyes, Aaron Medrano, Dylan Roe, Basheer Suied, and Muneer Suied.
"I feel good about our sophomores because of the development they have made," Rieth said. "Joel and Aidan have put the work in and are ready to take the next step."
Randy Rojas-Mendez of Duncanville, TX, highlights a promising crop of freshmen.
"Randy has the potential to be our number one guy," Rieth said.
Other freshmen on the squad are Martin David-Chavez, Jakub Barcik, Mason Bickle, Deshawn Douglas, and Elio Rivera.
"We have to put the work in. If we do that, stay injury free and not get too far ahead of ourselves we should be alright," Rieth said.
With the success of last season, Rieth knows this year's team will have a target on its back.
"We need to not get over confident, not worry about expectations, and just focus on ourselves," Rieth said. "We want to compete for conference and region titles each year, but I also want these kids to have a memorable experience, flourish as human beings, and come together as a team."