ENMU teams both finish eighth at LSC championships

CANYON, Texas — Sophomore Kaspars Briska gave Eastern New Mexico University's men their second event win in the Lone Star Conference track championships on Saturday, taking the 5,000 with a time of 15 minutes, 11.75 seconds.

Briska, a junior college transfer from Latvia, led a 1-5-6 ENMU finish in the event and crossed the finish line nearly three seconds ahead of runnerup Tye Doty of Tarleton State. His time was the fifth-best in program history and eclipsed the Buffalo Sports Park record of 15:24.12 set by ENMU's Isaiah Samoei.

On Friday, Briska was second in the 3,000 steeplechase on Friday. Also on Friday, junior Joseph Metcal won the 10,000 in a time of 31:48.27.

ENMU's men finished eighth in the 10-team meet, compiling 39 points. Angelo State dethroned 19-time champion Abilene Christian, finishing with 192 points while the Wildcats (138) actually finished third behind host West Texas A&M (164 1/3).

For the ENMU women, sophomore Alesha Jones was second in the 800 in 2:12.48, breaking her own school record of 2:12.83 and trailing only sophomore Jaylen Rodgers of Angelo State (2:12.13).

The Zias finished eighth as a team with 50 points. Angelo State tallied 148 points to win a three-team battle with WT (145 1/2) and ACU (145) for the team championship.