The women’s cross country team placed first, while the men placed second Saturday in the team’s first meet in Snyder.

Despite the unusual cold weather and muddy course, the Wildcats came out on top in the West Texas College Open, placing ahead of New Mexico, South Plains and Odessa.

“We were very excited to hear that we not only won, but dominated the meet against the other teams,” said Stephanie Melo, sophomore runner from Keller. “We have many more goals to reach, but this meet gave us the drive to start the season strong and finish it just as strong at our conference meet.”

Sophomore Diana Garcia-Munoz’ led the way for the Wildcats, taking first place in the 5K with a time of 20:57. Her win fueled the Wildcats, as seven athletes finished in the top-10. ACU finished with 19 points as a team. New Mexico was second with 52, South Plains had 64 and Odessa had 103.

The men’s team finished second out of three teams. South Plains earned 17 points, ACU was next with 49 and Odessa rounded out the bottom with 78.

Senior Daniel Block was the Wildcats’ top finisher, coming in fourth at 28:47 in the 8K and freshman Ryan Cleary was ninth (30.08).

“I’m hoping to use this first meet as a starting point for the season and look to improve from there,” said Daniel Block, senior runner from XXX said.

Both teams will look to build off the meet as they prepare for tougher competition throughout the season.

The Wildcats will travel to Lubbock for their next competition, in the Red Raider Invitational on Friday morning starting at 8 a.m.