AMERICAN SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE CROSS COUNTRY RUNNERS OF THE WEEK
Meets: September 16-22, 2025
MEN’S RUNNER OF THE WEEK – Jeremiah Calderon, Fr., Mary Hardin-Baylor
Mary Hardin-Baylor freshman Jeremiah Calderon (Copperas Cove, Texas) finished fourth individually at the Mountaineer Hill Country Intercollegiate and first among Division III runners. He ran a 27:09.0, averaging a 5:27.8 mile.
WOMEN’S RUNNER OF THE WEEK – Phoebe Dunham, Sr., East Texas Baptist
East Texas Baptist senior Phoebe Dunham (Prairieville, Louisiana) ran a personal best 19:42.79 in the 5K race, taking off over a minute in her time in two weeks from the UT Tyler Meet. She finished 25th out of 110 runners and was under 20 seconds off the top 15. The only other D3 program ahead of Dunham was three runners from Rhodes College, as Rhodes was second in the meet. Dunham ran against NCAA Division I Memphis and Arkansas State, D2 programs Mississippi College, Christian Brothers, Union University, Delta State, and five D3 progams.
OTHER OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCES
East Texas Baptist freshman Noah Zarate (Canton, Texas) came in 41st place against NCAA Division I, II, III competition knocking off almost 40 seconds from his first 8K time on Sept. 6. He ran a 27:09.59 and was just 13 seconds off the top 30. He came in front of runners from Memphis, Arkansas State, Mississippi College, Union University, and other NCAA D3 opponents. It is the third week in a row he has run a meet improving his times each week.
Hardin-Simmons senior Noah Bela (Midland, Texas) led the Cowboy team at the Mountaineer Hill Country Invite hosted by Schreiner in Kerrville last Saturday placing sixth overall in the race. Bela ran a time of 27:18 and was the top finisher for the Cowboy team that placed third in the team score among eight running teams.
Mary Hardin-Baylor sophomore Drea Gibson (Canton, Ohio) ran a 25:44.5 at the Mountaineer Hill Country Intercollegiate, finishing 10th overall. She also placed sixth among all Division III runners.
Hardin-Simmons graduate student Jasmin Mendez (Abilene, Texas) had the best time for the Cowgirls on Saturday racing in the Schreiner Mountaineer Hill Country Invite in Kerrville. HSU competed against teams including Mary Hardin-Baylor, Sul Ross State, Concordia Texas, Dallas, Schreiner, Texas A&M International, and Southwestern. Mendez led the team with a 6k time of 24:55 and placed seventh overall at the race.