The finish line is quickly approaching for the UTRGV Cross Country Teams as the end of October nears, and with it, the Western Athletic Conference Championships.
First-year Head Coach Darren Flowers and his group head to Las Cruces, N.M., on Saturday to compete against runners from the six other WAC cross-country programs. The teams have spent the last few months ramping up their preparation, and now finally at full strength, Flowers is hopeful UTRGV can have its best showing with a conference title on the line.
“I’ve been really proud of the way they’ve worked this year,” he said. “You have to find the mix between keeping them healthy, getting them to the line, try and push the issue and really train hard, and also getting them better week in and week out. I don’t even know if we’ve run full strength with both squads at one time yet. This may be the first time going into the WAC Championships that we’re running full out, with everyone healthy and at full strength. Training’s been good and attitudes have been good, so I think we’re in a decent place going into the WAC.”
The road up to this point has been long and winding, but UTRGV has put forth solid effort and performance in its four races this year.
UTRGV’s best finish as a team came in the Islander Splash hosted by Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi on Sept. 23. The race was part of the South Texas Showdown, the yearlong competition against TAMUCC, as the men’s team took home a first-place finish, while the women’s team came in second.
Junior Alberto Herrera led the men’s team with a first-place finish and a time of 19:29.3 in the four-mile race, which was four seconds faster than the second-place finisher. As a team, three Vaqueros placed in the top five as junior Brian Yanez posted a fourth-place finish with a time of 19:59.4 and sophomore Ricardo Mendoza finished in fifth place with a time of 20:03.0.
Four women finished in the top 10 of the 5,000-meter run, as sophomore Krysta Martinez led UTRGV with a time of 20:05.8, which was good enough for fifth place. Junior Thalia Polanco finished in seventh (20:14.8), sophomore Alma Villanueva in ninth (20:30.6) and freshman Kelly Aguinaga (20:39.5) rounded out the top 10 for UTRGV.
Last season at the WAC Championships in Seattle, the women’s team finished in fourth place while the men’s team finished in sixth, just one place above last. This year, the returners who have had a taste of the WAC Championships are looking to improve individually while leading both the UTRGV men’s and women’s teams.
Herrera, a Weslaco East graduate and University of Arkansas at Little Rock transfer, said he’s ready for his second WAC Championship and is looking for a top-five finish after placing 19th a year ago.
“I feel like Corpus gave us a little bit of confidence, Chili Pepper gave me a good amount of confidence,” he said. “Overall, I think we’ve been improving and getting more confident as a team going into conference. Last year, it was a good experience. I think I raced all right, but this year, there’s certainly new goals and we’d like to finish a lot higher than what we finished last year and, individually, I’d like to help the team and finish in the top five.”
Polanco, who gets hyped for races by listening to AC/DC and puts teammates at ease by making them laugh, missed receiving a plaque at the WAC Championships a year ago when she finished in 15th place, as only the top 14 are awarded. This year, with the race in her home state of New Mexico, she is determined to bring a plaque back to Edinburg with a good showing for UTRGV.
“I really do want to place higher,” she said. “I missed getting a plaque last year because of that 15th place, which is still a little aggravating, but I hope for better this year. Chasing that plaque, especially since we’re going to be running in my hometown, so hopefully we can do something good.”
The UTRGV Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Teams are ready and set for the WAC Championships this Saturday in Las Cruces, N.M. For up-to-date race action, visit GoUTRGV.com.
