Cross Country seeks to carry momentum into SLC Championship
After yielding positive results in the Our Lady of the Lake University Invite Oct. 12, the UTRGV Cross Country Teams turn their focus on the Southland Conference championship.
In their last meet at OLLU in San Antonio, the Vaqueros finished 1-of-9, their first team win in women’s cross-country since 1997. Four of its five runners had top-10 finishes.
In the men’s meet, the Vaqueros finished second overall, with two of its runners, junior Abraham Morales and sophomore Kevin Cardenas, a Nikki Rowe graduate, finishing in the top 10 (fifth and eighth respectively).
UTRGV Cross Country assistant distance running coach Ricardo Mendoza, who head coach Shareese Hicks commended in a news release for his efforts in helping the teams, said the vigorous preparations helped them in achieving competitive success.
“[This season] has been a big change compared to how it was last year,” Mendoza said. “I think it has to be the tons of work the athletes have been putting in this summer. … I just think that they elevated to the standard over the summer, so coming into the semester, they’ve been representing the school on a high level.”
Senior Samantha Gonzalez earned first place in the meet, finishing the race in 20:48.0, beating her personal 6K best by a minute and a half and 30 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.
Gonzalez said “it felt awesome” to show positive results in her last meet.
“I was just focused on getting the least amount of points possible for my team so we could take the team win,” she said. “I felt really good after the first lap and just decided to go for it and put it all out there for my team.”
Faith Cruz, a junior and a Pharr-San Juan-Alamo graduate, finished fourth in the event.
Cruz said the team has put in a lot of effort to place itself in a competitive position.
“I think the hard work between the girls and I is just really great for [us] this season,” she said. “… We’re able to train together, communicate with each other, and [when we] come down to the meets, we’re able to learn what we need to do to perform well.”
Mendoza told The Rider the results of the meet are a direct product of their hard work, which he says is “setting them up for conference and for [NCAA] regionals.”
“I think the Lady of the Lake Invitational was a testament of how much the team has improved mentally and emotionally when it comes to competitions,” he said. “I think going in there and winning the ladies’ race on a high-level performance, too, is a big testament to the work they put in. And on the men’s side, too, I think placing second is also a big testament to how much they’ve improved from a month ago.”
In her final year, Gonzalez wants to have fun and win, saying, “We’re ready for conference and regionals.” Cruz said “going into the Southland Conference in a couple of weeks, I feel prepared.”
As an alumna of PSJA High School, Cruz said “it means a lot” to represent the Rio Grande Valley at the Division I level.
“I feel proud of myself to be able to attend this university and represent where I come from,” she said. “Being a student from the Valley, especially from the PSJA district, it’s not much that you see a lot of kids coming out from the Valley, being able to represent their local school and their community.”
The Southland Conference Championship meet for cross-country will take place Nov. 1 in New Orleans.
