Top rated cross country runners in New Mexico prepare for state championship

The 2024 New Mexico Cross Country State Championship is right around the corner, and it will feature the two best runners in the state.

Corbin Coombs and Jeron Wisner, senior runners for Organ Mountain High School in Las Cruces, will both be in Albuquerque this weekend to race for a state title.

Coombs, ranked #1 in New Mexico and #4 in the country according to , is part of the Koros NIL program, as well as Nike Elite.

Wisner is placed at #2 in the state and #9 nationally in those same rankings, and is also part of Koros.

So I started running like track cross country, my sixth grade year with the club team here locally. And then after that, I had the decision my eighth grade year, whether or not I wanted to move up to high school running my eighth grade year. And probably the best decision I made was to move up, Wisner said. Yeah, for me, I started in eighth grade. I kind of knew I was gonna do it since like sixth grade, because my brother was in it... I kind of just fell in love with watching the improvement aspect and just all the life lessons you can learn from the sport, such as like hard work and discipline, Coombs said.

Since the two have been running for so long, an obvious friendship was born.

They are constantly pushing each other to be better, both off and on the track.

So over the summer, I was out on vacation. I wasn't really training at all, and then I come back and he's just demolishing me and in all these races, and I'm like, Okay, I'm not, I'm not gonna ever give up like that again, Coombs said. Elliot Kipchoge said it the best like to be a great runner, you have to surround yourself with great runners... when you're going through that same like, physical pain and emotional pain, also, like, there's bound to be a bond that's created, said Wisner.

Both boys also give huge thanks to all of their teammates, past and present, who have helped them along the way.

But they said none of this would have been possible without their leader, Coach David Nunez.

You know that old saying, iron sharpens iron. When those two are working together, you know, you get results. I mean, they push each other, they encourage one, each one another, they uplift one, each one another. So I'm super proud of both Sharon and Corbin. They work hard to get what they deserve, and I'm just fortunate to be along and watch all of it unfold, Coach Nunez said.

The New Mexico Cross Country State Championship will be held at Albuquerque Academy on Saturday, November 9.

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