LUBBOCK, Texas — Paced by a pair of top-10 finishes, the Fort Lewis College men's cross country team ended a most unusual 2020 season on a high note, earning 4^th overall out of 11 teams at Saturday's D2 Cross Country National Invite.

It was a strong performance to end the 2020 season for the Skyhawks, who didn't know if they'd be competing as a team at the event until two weeks ago when they were awarded the lone team at-large bid.

"There was definitely some carnage this week on the entries front due to Covid-19. We certainly respect what's going on in our country, but we were excited we got to race against some of the best teams in the country," said FLC head men's cross country and track coach, Joshua Coon. "Alabama-Huntsville (event winner) is a great team and Steven (Nez) and John (Ngaruiya) ran right with them up front. It was a great morning and the guys are stoked to get a top-four finish."

Fort Lewis was led by senior Steven Nez and redshirt junior John Ngaruiya as the duo crossed the finish line back-to-back in eighth and ninth place, respectively. 

Despite the West Texas windy conditions, Nez ran a personal record 10K time of 32:19.92; the 8th fastest 10K time in program history. It was the cherry on top for what has been a tremendous 2020 season, which includes a 26^th place finish and Second Team All-RMAC honors at the RMAC Championships, for the native of Gallup, New Mexico.

"Steven is running so strong right now. I think if we'd have had a normal regional event, he'd have been in the running for an individual national qualifying spot," Coon said. "Can't say enough about him and the year he has had. We're excited we get him back next year."

Ngaruiya bounced back from a sub-par 8K performance by his standards at the RMAC Championships (39^th, 26:11.3) by running his fastest 10K time (32:36.18), and ninth fastest 10K time in program history, on Saturday. The motivation fueled Ngaruiya to his second top-10 finish of the 2020 season after he placed third back on Oct. 9 at the Buffalo Stampede.

"I've told John the last three weeks to not forget what it felt like at the RMAC Championships and this morning he mentioned to me that he hadn't forgotten. He went out there and brought it," Coon said. "We've known he was capable of a performance like this after being one of the top junior college runners in the country before coming here. It took some time to round into form, but he ran a great race (Saturday)."

Bayfield's own Cody Speece added a 33^rd place finish (33:25.66) in his first appearance on the national stage, while juniors Ricardo Trejo (39^th, 33:37.19) and Elvis Chelak (48^th, 33:48.41) completed the Skyhawks' scorecard.

Saturday's run for Trejo was another bounce-back performance from the RMAC Championships, while Coon credited Chelak for grinding through an Achilles injury to keep the Skyhawks' team score and chance at the fourth-place finish intact. 

Fellow juniors Allen Fowler (63^rd, 34:22.15) and David Wilcox (83^rd, 37:33.13) rounded out the seven FLC runners in action Saturday.

Alabama-Huntsville won the team championship with a score of 46, while RMAC conference foe Colorado Mesa (77), West Texas A&M (77), Fort Lewis (123) and Nebraska-Kearney (147) made up the top-5 finishers.

The Skyhawks will now rest up and turn their attention toward the spring semester with some confidence and valuable race time now under their belts.

"We've acknowledged and understood all season long that competing is a gift this year with two-thirds of the country not racing. I think it was good for us to get some reps, get some hardware at a couple meets, learn some more lessons and grow this fall," Coon said. "That's how you get better and the guys are as hungry as ever for track season."