Ricardo Banuelos was announced as the Cross Country Graduate Assistant on August 5, 2021.
Banuelos comes to AUM on the heels of a wayfaring collegiate career across the division I, II and junior college levels. He ran his senior season of cross country and indoor track and field at Washburn University in Topeka, Kan., where he helped the Ichabods earn a spot in the 2018 NCAA Division II Central Region Cross Country Championships. He posted a season-best 8K time of 25:48.40 at the Southern Stampede on Sept. 15, 2018 and a personal-best time of 14:55.54 in the 5,000m run at the Gorilla Classic for the indoor track and field team.
Banuelos spent his junior seasons of cross country and track and field at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. He helped lead the Cyclones to their first Big 12 Championship in cross country in 2017, posting a time of 25:03.50 in the 8K championship meet. He also posted a season-best mile time of 4:27.88 for the indoor track and field team on Dec. 8, 2018 at the Cyclone Duals.
Prior to transferring into the NCAA ranks, Banuelos competed for two seasons at Allen County Community College in Iola, Kan. He qualified for the NJCAA Division I Indoor and Outdoor Track National Championships in 2016 and 2017, while finishing third in the 10,000m for outdoor and fifth in the 5,000m for indoor in 2017. He qualified for both the 5,000m and 10,000m at the 2016 Outdoor National Championships, finishing 19th and ninth, respectively.
Banuelos additionally helped guide the Red Devils to back-to-back third-place finishes at the NJCAA Half Marathon National Championships for cross country in 2015 and 2016. He posted a fifth-place finish in 2016 and an eighth-place nod in 2015 while helping the Red Devils garner the NJCAA Half Marathon Academic Team of the Year Award that season.
Banuelos earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Kinesiology, with a concentration in Exercise and Rehab Science, from Washburn in May of 2021.
