The second season of Northeast Alabama Community College cross country began with a pair of Top-15 finishes.

The NACC men finished 11th while the women were 15th during races at the JSU Foothills Invitational at Choccolooco Park in Oxford last Friday.

NACC posted a team score of 348 in the men’s 5K race team standings. Jacksonville State took the top spot with a winning low score of 40, with Oglethorpe second (74), Samford third (109), Wallace State fourth (120) and Troy fifth (134). The NACC men finished third among junior college teams in the race.

Freshman Tristan Little was the NACC men’s top finisher. Little, a Pisgah alum, finished 78th with a time of 17:10.74. North Sand Mountain alum Josue Luna followed in 85th-place (17:22.12) for the Mustangs, who also got an 89th-place finish from Samuel Moses (17:28.74), a 91st-place finish from Austin Yoder (17:33.28), a 98th-place finish from Braxton Williams (17:49.42), a 113th-place finish from Eber Ramirez Perez (18:26.22), a 137th-place finish from Jayden Veazey (19:14.75) and a 158th-place finish from Brodie Wilson (21:00.49).

Scottsboro High School 2024 graduate Stephen Jones, who runs for Samford, finished 34th (16:06.80) in the men’s 5K race.

Meanwhile, NACC finished 15th in the women’s 5K race team standings (418). Samford won the meet with a near-perfect score of 18 while Jacksonville State (70) was second and UAB (89) was third. NACC women finished fifth among junior college teams in the race.

Kadie Brooks was NACC’s top women’s finisher, placing 63rd with a time of 20:58.34. Christy Alred finished 89th (22:17:40) for the Mustangs while Marissa Fairley was 109th (23:45.78), Makenna Howes of Scottsboro 113th (24:14.53), Sheyla Pacheco 131st (25:18.46), Chelsea Saucedo 133rd (25:19.20) and Jenni Gonzalez 144th (26:46.22). 

Both NACC teams will be back on the course Friday at the University of Montevallo’s Falcon Twilight Classic.