SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The Texas A&M-Kingsville men's and women's cross-country teams competed in the UIW Invitational this Saturday against a mix of competition across all three NCAA Divisions at the Windcrest Golf Club, hosted by Incarnate Word.
"Both teams had a pretty good showing," said coach Zachary Hall, "Most of the team ran massive PRs."
Leading the way for the Javelinas, Ivanova Yanes followed up her first-place finish at the Lumberjack Invitational with another outstanding performance. Yanes brought home third-place for the Javs in the women's 6K, shattering the school record by almost a minute with a time of 21:26.
Maya Espinosa turned in a great run as well, securing 17th-place with a 22:54 time. Janeth Chacon delivered a third top-twenty finish for the team with a 20th-place finish, running a time of 23:02.
Odette Fernandez turned in a 34th-place finish with a time of 23:42. While not record-breaking, Espinosa, Chacon, and Fernandez's times were all good enough to find places on the TAMUK all-time board for the women's 6K.
The women's team would finish the meet with an overall place of fourth with 124 points, just shy of a podium behind third-place UT-San Antonio with 114. Rice would take first overall with a score of 47, and Trinity would round out the top three in second-place with 106 points.
The Javs' fourth-place finish was the highest finish by a Division II school at the meet, also beating out multiple Division I schools in Texas State, Houston Christian, Incarnate Word, and UT-Rio Grande Valley.
The men brought home 11th-place while the women came just short of a podium with a fourth-place team finish.
The men's squad was led once more by veteran Cody Fountain, finishing the men's 8K with a time of 26:29, securing 37th-place. Angel Campos and Justin Ramirez were the next fastest runners for the Javs, with times of 27:38 and 27:56 to finish 59th and 61st-place respectively.
The men's squad finished the meet in 11th-place. Hosts Incarnate Word would take home the top spot with a total of 23. Trinity's men's team would mirror their women's performance, bringing home second-place as well with 94 points. Texas State completed the podium in third place with 132 points.
Javelina cross-country will be back in action on September 30 in Fayetteville, Arkansas at the Chile Pepper Cross Country Invitational.
