| Oct. 31, 2005
Contact: Kyle Stephens (210) 458-4907
UTSA women finish fifth, men seventh at SLC Cross Country Championships Men's Results | Women's Results
NATCHITOCHES, La. - The UTSA women’s cross country team finished fifth behind a seventh-place showing from junior Veronica Silva, while the Roadrunner men took seventh led by a 20th-place effort from junior transfer Cornelio Castanon at the Southland Conference Cross Country Championships held Monday morning at Demon Hills Golf Course.
Silva covered the women’s 6,000-meter loop in 22:43 for seventh place overall to lead UTSA to a fifth-place showing in the team race. The Roadrunners scored 101 points and were just three points behind Sam Houston State for fourth (98) and 25 behind Texas-Arlington (76) for third. Lamar successfully defended its league crown with 26 points ahead of Stephen F. Austin (49). "Veronica ran tremendous," head coach Rose Monday said. "It was a really tough morning to run with the humidity but she maintained all the way to the end. She has made such a huge improvement in the past six months and I'm proud of her dedication. It paid off today."
Silva’s seventh-place, all-conference performance is the highest conference finish by a Roadrunner since Leticia Cerna was fourth at the 2002 SLC Championship. She led a quartet of Roadrunners that finished in the top 25 including junior transfer Hope Jimenez in 20th (23:43), senior Rita Lambert in 22nd (23:51) and sophomore Ann Marie Hollowell in 25th (23:54).
Senior Karilyn Petty rounded out the top five in 27th (23:57), while junior transfer Nicole Silvas (37th / 24:56) and junior Briana Mendez (39th / 25:01) also raced.
The UTSA men scored 149 points for a seventh-place finish, right behind fifth-place Texas-Arlington (139) and Lamar (144) in sixth. Stephen F. Austin won its fifth straight SLC crown with 28 points, followed by Sam Houston State (59), McNeese State (83) and Texas State (112).
Castanon led all Roadrunners with a 26:51 clocking on the 8,000-meter course for 20th. Junior transfer Chris Layman finished 26th in 27:18, while sophomore Eric Miller was right behind him in 29th in 27:29. Sophomore Nick Perez and senior Dustin Riedel rounded out the top five in 37th (28:11) and 39th (28:15), respectively. Sophomore Michael Schwartz (47th / 28:56) and senior Justin Pitchford (49th / 29:29) also competed. "Four of our top five finishers today are walk-ons," Monday said. "They ran well, but we are still building on that side. None of the guys have been training with me for more than two years, but we will continue to work hard and get better before the track season kicks in."
Ashley Monteau and Cody Clark of Stephen F. Austin were the individual champions.
Selected individuals will return to the course on Nov. 12 at the NCAA South Central Regional in Waco.
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