Sept. 22, 2007

The University of Texas-Pan American women's cross country team posted a fifth place showing while the men collect sixth at the Texas A&M Invitational hosted by Texas A&M University in College Station, TX, on Saturday (Sept. 22).

"I think the men and women overall did pretty well," said head men's and women's cross country coach Dennis Darling. "The women did a little bit better than the men but overall I've been very impressed with the performance of both teams."

Missing from the Broncs' line-up was newcomer Angel M. Ramirez (McAllen,TX/McAllen H.S.) who was sidelined for a minor injury but should make his return in time for the next meet.

"The men were a little disappointed with Angel not being able to compete, but we just felt that he needed some time to rest and be ready for our next meet. I think if we had Angel we would of placed a lot higher," said Darling.

Luis Nava (La Joya, TX/La Joya H.S.) notched his third top-10 finish as he recorded a time of 24:54 in seventh place while fellow junior J.J. Hernandez (San Juan, TX/PSJA North H.S.) crossed the finish line in 27th place with a time of 26:00 in the 8,000-meter race.

Edinburg native, Roly Vela (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg North H.S.) crossed the end line in 37th place and Jorge Rodriguez (Hidalgo, TX/Valley View H.S.) finished 57th overall with a mark of 27:30, respectively.

Osvaldo Gonzalez placed 64th overall while Gil Castillo (Brownsville, TX/Hanna H.S.) was 72nd overall with a time of 28:27.

The Lady Broncs placed fifth overall in the 12 team event. Leading the way for UTPA was Carolina Izzaguire (Brownsville, TX/Hanna H.S.) who crossed the finish line 25th with a time of 19:09 in the 5,000-meter race.

"The women really stepped it up this week. It was a great accomplishment for them to crack the top-five. It was a good confidence booster for them," added Darling.

Junior Shardae Bey (Houston, TX/Elsik H.S.) was 41st overall with a mark of 19:38 while Rose Escovedo (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg North H.S.) came in 45th place our of 99 runners.

Sara Rodriguez (Pharr, TX/Valley View H.S.) and Diana Gallaso (Edinburg, TX/ Edinburg H.S.) crossed the end line in 51st and 60th, respectively.

Sonya Rivera (Brownsville, TX/Hanna H.S.) was 65th overall with a time of 20:46 and Megan Mcguire (Gafton, OH/Avon Lake H.S.) came in 74th place with a mark of 21:25.

The Broncs and Lady Broncs will next travel to Corpus Christi, TX to compete in the Splash Invitational hosted by Texas A&M Corpus-Christi on Saturday (Sept. 28).

UTPA Sports Information