LUBBOCK – Competing in the best regional championships in NCAA Division II, the Texas A&M University-Commerce men's cross country team closed out its season with a 21^st place finish at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships on Saturday morning, hosted by Lubbock Christian, at the LCU Cross Country Course.
 
Six teams that are ranked in the latest United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCA) poll competed in the 10-kilometer race. Colorado School of Mines won the team championship with a score of 42. Adams State and Colorado Christian also receive automatic berths to the NCAA Division II National Championships, finishing second and third, respectively in the 26-team event.
 
Nicodemus Rotich (Eldoret, Kenya) was in 82^nd place at the halfway point of the race. He rose 26 spots in the final stretch and finished 56^th with a time of 32:05.10. Tanner Townsend (Royse City) finished second on the team and 103^rd overall with a time of 33:09.63.
 
Less than a minute after Townsend crossed the finish line, Alex Speer (Robinson) finished the race with a time of 33:55.63. He was followed by Casey Novelo (Burleson – Trinity) and Anthony Gonzales (DeSoto), who timed 34:54.20 and 34:59.20, respectively.
 
Jan Lenfert (Buckenhof, Germany) clocked in a time of 35:08.46 and Nicholas Deutsch (Frisco), timed 37:10.03, to round out the Lions' group in the 183-runner field.
 
Colorado School of Mines' Dillon Powell won the race by 27 seconds with a time of 29:15.35.