Aug. 31, 2007

The University of Texas-Pan American men's and women's cross country program battled tough competition to earn four top-10 finishes in their first meet of the season at the Islanders Relays hosted by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

"I was really impressed with the three men's teams that placed in the top-ten," said assistant men's and women's cross country coach Hugo Cervantes. "We did very well and this meet lets me know that we're on the right track early in the season."

Juniors Luis Nava (La Joya, TX/La Joya H.S.) and J.J. Hernandez (San Juan, TX/San Juan H.S.) led the way for the Broncs in the eight mile relay race in fourth place with a time of 41:09 followed by a pack of Broncs who crossed the finish line in sixth, ninth, 19th, and 20th-places.

Newcomers Angel Martinez (McAllen, TX/McAllen H.S.) and Roly Vela (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg North H.S.) finished the race with a time of 41:48 in sixth place trailed by the team of Gilroy Martinez and Jorge Rodriguez who finished in ninth place with a time of 42:52.

On the women's side, the Lady Broncs had one top-10 finish as Rose Escovedo (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg North H.S.) and Carolina Izaguirre (Brownsville, TX/Hanna H.S.) battled their way to seventh place with a time of 28:56.

"I am really impressed with the two-top teams. The course wasn't really in our favor, it was a little hard for us in the beginning but overall I was very pleased with the good effort," added Cervantes.

Juniors Sara Rodriguez (Pharr, TX/Valley View H.S.) and Sonya Rivera (Brownsville, TX/Hanna H.S.) finished in 11th place at at time of 29:38 while the duo of Shardae Bey (Houston, TX/Elsik H.S.) and Megan Mcguire (Gafton, OH/Avon Lake H.S.) finished with a time of 30:55 in 16th place.

The Islanders dominated the event with the men placing first and second and had three teams in the top five, while the women claimed the top three spots and had four pairs in the top nine.

The Broncs and Lady Broncs will be back in action as they travel to San Marcos, TX to compete in the Rice/Texas State Invitational hosted by Texas State University on Saturday (Sep. 8).

UTPA Sports Information