Cristian Mendoza Named CCC Runner of the Week
By Garrett Christensen on Wednesday, October 19th, 2022 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LA GRANDE – (Release from Eastern Oregon University) The No. 4 Eastern Oregon University Mountaineers Men’s Cross Country team continues to rack up accolades as sophomore Cristian Mendoza was named the CCC Rize Laboratory Runner of the week for the week of Oct. 10-16. In the Mounties’ showing at the Lewis & Clark Invitational last Saturday Mendoza put together an impressive performance finishing 10th in a field of 369 runners.
“Cristian has been steadily improving and making crucial adjustments in races and it came together nicely this past weekend,” Coach Ben Welch said. “He ran a very smart, tough, tactical race and it is good to see him rewarded for such a quality effort.”
The La Grande native finished the 8,000-meter race with a time of 24:44.3 helping lead the Mountaineers to a second-place finish in race that boasted 30 teams, including some strong NCAA Division I talent. With the award the Mountaineers have now had an athlete win the CCC Runner of the Week award after each race they have competed in. Mendoza joins Justin Ash as the only two runners to receive the award in the 2022 season.
Mendoza and the Mountaineers will get the next two weekends off and return to action on Friday, Nov. 4 at the CCC Championships. The Men’s Cross Country Team will kick the day off with an 8k race at 10 a.m. followed by the women’s 5k at 11 a.m.
