Kingsville, Texas- The Texas A&M International Dustdevils took to Kingsville Saturday to compete in the Lone Star Conference Championships. The championships were hosted at Texas A&M Kingsville with twelve teams competing on the men's side and thirteen on the women.
 
The men were able to pull off a fourth-place finish in the 8K race led by Donald Kipsang who finished 6^th overall with a time of 24:23. This impressive feat allowed the freshman to win the Lone Star Conference Freshmen Of The Year award. Kipsang had previously won runner of the week for the Lone Star Conference and freshman of the week accolades. Lewis Too was close behind finishing 24:34 finishing 8^th for the Dustdevils. Both of these individuals placed high enough to earn All-Conference Honors for the Lone Star. Josphat Langat finished 17^th for the Dustdevils with a time of 25:05. Emmanuel Langat placed 28^th with a time of 25:38. Alan Hernandez finished 46^th with a time of 26:36. Aldo Cantu finished with a time of 27:46 to finish 75^th. Jorge Sanchez rounded out the Dustdevils team today with a 28:01 to finish 81^st.
 
Laura Jeptoo led the way for the women's team in the 6K finishing with a time of 23:36, this was good enough for 48^th place overall. Mercy Kosgei finished 63^rd for the Dustdevils with a time of 24:07. Jazlynn Villalobos finished 103^rd with a time of 27:36. Kaitlynn Sierra finished with a time of 27:40 for 104^th place and Valerie Esparza rounded out the Dustdevils in 107^th place with a time of 28:39. The women's team finished 12^th overall in the conference.
 
Coach Benny Rodriguez commented,
 
"It was a good day to be a Dustdevil. We were in it all the way until the fourth mile. The last mile was tough, and we started to fall apart. However, they stayed strong, and we ended up placing better than we did last year on the men's side. We were a couple points away from making the podium, but I am happy with their effort. We need to reset and start focusing on regionals. Our women have been fighting injuries, so we will do our best to recover. We have lost a few individuals for this reason but still need to make the best of the situation at hand so that we can compete."
 
The Cross Country team will be back in action November 9^th at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships in Denver, Colorado.