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The Rice Raiders hosted the Rice 5000 on Saturday, Aug. 17, to kickstart their Cross-Country season.
The Raiders finished the day with their boys’ team winning the meet.
They were aided by three top-10 finishes and a top-15 finish to help boost them in the standings. Hayes Dingler led the way for the Raiders and crossed the finish line first for his team.
He finished the race in 16 minutes and 41 seconds earning him 6th place in the race and had two teammates right on his heels. Jael Valles-Serrano crossed the finish line six seconds after Dingler with a time of 16 minutes and 47 seconds to finish in 7th place.
Jake Morales came in 8th place to be the third Raider in the top 10 with a time of 17 minutes and seven seconds. With these three setting the tone the Raiders were in great shape to win the meet but ended up getting another big boost.
Jose Briones crossed the finish line 23 seconds after Morales with a time of 17 minutes and 30 seconds. Briones was awarded 11th place for his efforts and with that gave his team a big boost in the standings.
Luke Englebrecht, Joe Luke Morales and Victor Flores finished in 42nd, 44th, and 47th place respectively out of 54 runners giving the Raiders yet another late boost in the standings.
As for the girls, they did not have as prosperous of a day as the boys but turned in a solid performance, nonetheless. Taylor Englebrecht was the first Lady Raider across the finish line with a time of 16 minutes and 50 seconds to claim 31st place.
Priscilla Morales was the next Lady Raider across, and she finished in 39th place with a time of 18 minutes and 14 seconds. Fallan Weid and Leanna Rangel finished off the Lady Raiders’ participation in the Rice 5000 coming in 44th and 45th place respectively with times of 20 minutes and five seconds for Weid and 21 minutes and 27 seconds for Rangel.
The Raiders are proud of their performance at the Rice 5000 but still see room for improvement and they plan on making those improvements as the season moves along.
