SAN ANTONIO – Senior Hope Jimenez led four Roadrunners in the top five collegiate finishers as the UTSA women ran away with the team title at the Ricardo Romo UTSA Cross Country Classic held Friday evening at Brooks City Base Golf Course. Junior Carlos Perez finished third among collegians to lead the UTSA men to second place behind Rice.
As the top collegian finisher, Jimenez covered the 5,000-meter course in a time of 18:59 to lead a strong Roadrunner contingent as UTSA posted a near-perfect score of 18 for first, comfortably ahead of St. Mary’s (63). Incarnate Word was third (79), followed by Texas State (83), Western Texas College (162), Huston-Tillotson (170) and Texas A&M International (175).
On the men’s side, Perez was fourth overall and third among collegians, finishing the 5k loop in 15:20. As a team, UTSA finished second with 48 points behind a solid Rice team (20). Incarnate Word was third (124), followed by St. Edward’s (135), Palo Alto College (143) and Huston-Tillotson (165).
Jimenez’ 18:59 was good for third place overall behind Adria Jarzombek (17:13) and Stefanie Calhoun (18:34). The impressive freshman duo of Dana Mecke (Bulverde, Texas/Smithson Valley HS) and Faith Barlow (San Antonio/Holmes HS) was right behind in fourth and fifth, clocking times of 19:01 and 19:20, respectively. Senior Veronica Silva (San Antonio/Madison HS) took seventh in 20:16, while freshman Katy Spence rounded out the top five in 10th in 20:29.
Also competing for the UTSA women were junior Brianna Mendez (14th, 20:46), freshman Farrah Moore (16th, 21:35) and senior Samantha Burgess (18th, 22:09).
Close behind Perez in the men’s race was senior Benson Cheserek, who clocked a 15:37 for the 3.1-mile trek. Freshman Corey Vargas (Converse, Texas/Judson HS) and junior Adrian Vargas (Del Rio, Texas) finished 17th (16:04) and 18th (16:08), respectively, while junior Eric Miller rounded out the top five in 20th (16:10).
Senior Larry Brooks finished 26th (16:34) and freshman Bryan Ugochukwu placed 34th (17:14) in the 79-person field.
The Roadrunners travel to California next weekend to compete in the Stanford Invitational.
Ricardo Romo UTSA Cross Country Classic
Brooks City Base Golf Course
College Men (5,000 meters)
Team Standings
1. Rice 20; 2. UTSA 48; 3. Incarnate Word 124; 4. St. Edward’s 135; 5. Palo Alto College 143; 6. Huston-Tillotson 165
Individual Top 25
1. Marcel Hewamudalige, unattached 14:34; 2. Pablo Solares, Rice 15:07; 3. Simon Bucknell, Rice 15:13; 4. Carlos Perez, UTSA 15:20; Brett Olson, Rice 15:28; 6. Benson Cheserek, UTSA 15:37; 7. Justin Maxwell, Rice 15:39; 8. Tyler Keen, unattached 15:44; 9. David Fuentes, unattached 15:46; 10. Chris Layman, unattached 15:49; 11. Aaron Robson, Rice 15:54; 12. Ben Rodriguez, unattached 15:58; 13. Colby Keithan, Rice 16:01; 14. Matthew Bet, Huston-Tillotson 16:01; 15. Scott Zivik, Rice 16:02; 16. Alex Solomon, Rice 16:02; 17. Corey Vargas, UTSA 16:04; 18. Adrian Vargas, UTSA 16:08; 19. Brad Morris, Rice 16:09; 20. Eric Miller, UTSA 16:10; 21. Shelby Snodgrass, unattached 16:18; 22. Danny Ponce, unattached 16:21; 23. John Buck, Rice 16:22; 24. Andrew Zukoski, Rice 16:27; 25. Shayn Weidner, Incarnate Word 16:31.