Allen County Community College’s Gabriela Ruiz settled in after the first 800 meters of Saturday’s NJCAA National Cross Country race and ran her race. Ruiz, a freshman from Tulsa, Okla., claimed a top-15 finish at the 2011 national meet.
Ruiz ran the women’s 5K course at the Ocotillo Golf Club in Hobbs, N.M., in 20 minutes and .52 seconds placing 13th. Natoya Goule of South Plains, Levelland, Texas, was the national champion in 18:45.16.
With her 13th-place finish, Ruiz earned 2011 NJCAA All-American honorable mention. ACCC teammate Kim Boyle, a freshman from Lantana, Fla., aimed at a top 100 finish. She came close finishing 128th out of a field of 268 runners in 22:20.57.
“I told Gabby to get out smart and not to get caught up in all of the hype of a national meet. After she had finished second in the region meet, we talked about staying active in the middle of the race and not letting competition get away,” said Vince DeGrado, ACCC head cross country coach.
“We knew Gabby had to be within the top 25 by the first mile to finish in the top 15. She set herself up to have a great race.”
Ruiz beat the Region VI champion Leslie Rosario of Neosho County Community College at the national meet. Rosario was 20th in 20:20.18.
DeGrado said Boyle got tripped up after 400 meters, fell down and had to start from the back of the field. Boyle moved up through runners and “impressed me as she didn’t give up even with her knee injury,” he said.
Allen County’s men finished 20th as a team at the national meet. The Red Devils went into the meet ranked 25th.
Evan Adams paced the all-freshman Red Devil team in the men’s 8K race. Although DeGrado said the men’s course was 300 meters long which messed up times for all the runners.
Adams ran 75th in 28:33.44 in the field of 288 runners. Camille Charvet was 126th in 29:25.66 followed by Garrett Colglazier in 129th at 29:27.37 and Josh Whittaker in 132nd in 29:30.70.
Jacob Spence was 151st in 29:50.50 and Gerald Christian was 159th in 29:56.12. Kyle Stromgren placed 186th in 30:19.26.
Adams is from Ash Grove, Mo., Charvet is from Auge, France, while Golglazier and Whittaker are from Topeka. Spence is from Baxter Springs, Christian is from Mayetta and Stromgren is from Osage City.
“We competed the best we have as a team all year. Evan stepped up and ran No. 2 for us and we got to see a glimpse of what I’ve been waiting for all season,” DeGrado said. “I’m happy to have had my athletes have this experience because it will help with their maturation.”
DeGrado said Charvet competed well while Colglazier and Spence ran well in the second half of the race.
Expectations are high for the Allen County cross country program. All the ACCC runners who competed at the national meet are expected to return next year.
“Recruiting for both men and women has been going well and we’ve got our foundation. We’ll have a full women’s team next year which will be exciting,” DeGrado said. “Our men will be out there pushing each other to get better.”
DeGrado returned to Allen County in August to take over the cross country and track programs. He had led Cowley County Community College of Arkansas City to national cross country championships in men and women last year.
ACCC’s Ruiz runs to top-15 finish at national meet
