The ACU women’s cross country team took their second win this past weekend at the UIW Twilight.

Irene Rono, a sophomore from Eldama Ravine, Kenya, took another first-place victory out of the runners, and after the race, she talked about how every detail worked out for her win. 

“I felt really good in the race,” Rono said. “The weather was perfect, and I just gave it all and ended up doing good.”

Also, once the meet was complete, head coach Jarvis Jelen praised Rono for her leadership and talked about she has a lot of potential.

“Irene Rono took leadership and paced her team behind her, after a mile Irene took off and still easily won,” said head coach Jarvis Jelen. “She hasn’t been tested at all, these races don’t tell us too much about where she is at, as far as where she can be.”

Last year, Rono received Southland Conference athlete of the year, won the Southland conference meet, and competed well at the NCAA tournament. 

After Rono’s performance over the weekend, she was named WAC runner of the week.

“I was really thankful to be able to get to that point at this spot,” Rono said. “I’ll be really ready for the conference meet because there is a good chance I can be super competitive.”

The men’s team took fourth place with Levi Chambers leading in eighth-place.

“Levi Chambers had a solid race,” Jelen said, “and he has been doing really well at leading and being consistent for the men’s team.”

Overall, Jelen said he couldn’t have hoped for a better position than the women have put themselves in and there is still work needed to be done on the men’s side in order to compete really well in the conference. 

The women’s team moved up to fourth place in the region behind Arkansas, Texas and Texas A&M. Both teams will get to test their abilities on the road when ACU goes to Texas A&M for the Arturo Barrios Invitational on Oct. 14.