Sept. 16, 2006

The University of Texas-Pan American men's and women's cross country teams each placed eighth at the Texas A&M Invitational hosted by Texas A&M University in College Station, TX, on Saturday (Sept. 16).

Freshman Omar Doria (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg North H.S.) finished ahead of all Bronc runners in 17th place with a time of 26:43 in the 8,000-meter race. The men's team failed to run in a pack as the remaining team members trailed behind. Peppered throughout the sea of competition were Alex Moncivais (Pharr, TX/Texas A&M-Kingsville) in 32nd place with a time of 27:21, Gilroy Martinez in 53th place in 28:23, Wally Gonzalez (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg North H.S.) in 62nd place with a time of 28:44, Jorge Moncivais (San Juan, TX/PSJA North H.S.) in 64th place in 28:47, Angel Ramirez (Mission, TX/Waedler H.S.) in 66th place in 28:54 and Gil Castillo (Brownsville, TX/Hanna H.S.) in 68th with a time of 28:57. Luis Hernandez (San Juan, TX/PSJA North H.S.) finished up for the men's ending in 86th place with a time of 30:54.

"They're a young team with little experience at this distance, and I was impressed with their focus. Omar showed me a lot, and I think this is a good jumping off point for our team," said assistant track and field/cross country coach Brian Cunningham.

The Lady Broncs finished eighth out of 11 teams, and had seven runners finish within one minute of each other. They carried out the pack running strategy perfectly, and veteran leadership remains their strong point.

"It helps having seniors, but I'm very excited about our younger runners. They packed up very well, and now we just have to focus on moving the pack up a little," said Cunningham.

Leading all Lady Bronc runners was senior Karla Hernandez (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg H.S.) who finished in 35th place with a time of 20:11. Following close behind were Sara Rodriguez (Pharr, TX/Valey View H.S.) and Carolina Izaguirre who finished in 37th and 38th place, respectively. Sonya Rivera (Brownsville, TX/Hanna H.S.) finished in the 41st spot with a time of 20:23, Ashley Perez (Falfurrias, TX/Falfurrias H.S.) crossed the finish line in 48nd place in a time of 20:40, Sharon Toroitich (Eldama-Ravin, Kenya/Butler C.C.) finished in 54th place in a time of 21:02 and freshman Shardae Bey (Houston, TX/Elsik H.S.) finished in 57th with a time of 21:09.

"We had a lot of good individual performances, and I think we are on the right track," added Cunningham.

The UTPA men's and women's cross country teams look to build on the season when they travel to San Antonio, TX, to compete in the UTSA Invitational hosted by the University of Texas-San Antonio on Friday (Sept. 22).

UTPA Sports Information