On Friday at the New Mexico Junior College Invite II, the Amarillo College freshman shaved over a minute off his previous program-best time to earn a seventh-place finish in a loaded field with five of the top 25 runners at the NJCAA Division I level.
Kenney finished the 8K race in a time of 24 minutes 37 seconds – topping his initial school-record mark by 1 minute and 13 seconds.
“My goal for him was to finish the race around 25:30 and stay with NMJC’s No. 3 runner. He not only beat him by 21 seconds, but he far surpassed my expectations,” Amarillo College head coach Sean Hargrove said. “That was an unbelievable performance.”
In addition to Kenney, four Badgers set season-best times in the men’s division.
Sophomore Hugo Briones clocked the second-fastest time of his career (26:34) to place 21st in a field of 53 runners. Brian Corona finished in 26th place (27:04) and Chrisitan Rosales took 30th (27:19).
Mia Regalado took 22nd place (20:38) and Mia Lujan finished in 27th place in a time of 20:42.
Hereford native Daisy Ruelas was fourth on the Lady Badgers squad with a 38th place finish (22:07).
Both AC teams placed fourth at their final meet before regionals.
The Badgers have a bye week before competing at the Region V Championships, Saturday, Oct. 26, on the same course in Hobbs, New Mexico at Harry McAdams Park.