| Dana Mecke captured her second consecutive Romo Classic women's 5k crown on Friday evening. | Layne Nixon placed seventh to guide the UTSA men to a third-place team showing. |
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SAN ANTONIO ? Junior Dana Mecke successfully defended her 5,000-meter title to lead the UTSA women’s cross country team to a fourth-place showing, while freshmen Layne Nixon and Ivan Garcia posted top-10 finishes to guide the men to third place at the Ricardo Romo/Six Flags Fiesta Texas Classic held Friday evening at Brooks City-Base.
Mecke remained unbeaten on the young season with an 8-second victory in the first race of the day. The Smithson Valley product clocked a 17:50.3 for top honors ahead of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s Anne Ronoh (17:58.8), a 10-second improvement of her winning time of 18:00 over the same course last year, her first-ever collegiate victory. Mecke, a two-time Southland Conference Athlete of the Week this season, won the Texas State Invitational two weeks ago and teamed with freshman teammate Kayla Pratt for gold at the UTSA Opener.
Nixon and Garcia led a flock of five Roadrunners that finished in the top 20. Nixon covered the 5k loop in 15:48.8, less than 10 seconds off the 15:39.0 pace of individual champion Jacob Hernandez of Texas, to place seventh, while Garcia was close behind in ninth in 15:51.3. Freshman Michael Cook was UTSA’s No. 3 finisher, coming in 14th in 16:06.0, while junior Corey Vargas and freshman Albert Cardenas placed 16th (16:13.7) and 19th (16:23.5), respectively.
The men tallied 65 points in a tight team race won by Texas-Pan American, 49-56, ahead of Texas. Houston was fourth with 79 points, followed by Trinity (104), UTSA Alumni (165), Texas A&M International (206), Schreiner (244) and Texas A&M-Kingsville (246).
Back on the women’s side, sophomore Jayde James and Pratt both finished in the top 15. James clocked a 19:40.0 for 11th, just edging Pratt’s 12th-place time of 19:40.1. Freshman Courtney Nelson and sophomore Baylee Holder rounded out the top five scorers in 24th (20:37.1) and 42nd (23:32.7), respectively.
UTSA scored 90 points for fourth in the team standings behind Houston (42), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (48) and Trinity (76). Texas-Pan American was fifth (109), followed by Texas Lutheran (179), Texas A&M International (180), St. Mary’s (181) and Texas A&M-Kingsville (235).
The Roadrunners return to action next Friday, Sept. 26, at the Islander Splash in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Ricardo Romo/Six Flags Fiesta Texas Classic
Friday, Sept. 19, 2008
Brooks City-Base
San Antonio, Texas
Women’s 5k
Team Standings
1.. Houston 42; 2. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 48; 3. Trinity 76; 4. UTSA 90; 5. Texas-Pan American 109; 6. Texas Lutheran 179; 7. Texas A&M International 180; 8. St. Mary’s 181; 9. Texas A&M-Kingsville 235
Individual Results (Top 10 plus UTSA runners)
1. Dana Mecke, UTSA 17:50.3; 2. Anne Ronoh, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 17:58.8; 3. Stephanie Aldea, Houston 18:04.9; 4. Carolina Izzaguire, Texas-Pan American 19:19.2; 5. Cynthia Santaella, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 19:26.6; 6. Starla Garcia, Houston 19:27.3; 7. Megan Munoz, Houston 19:28.9; 8. Emily Loeffler, Trinity 19:31.3; 9. Brandi Witte, Houston 19:35.7; 10. Sarah DeLosSantos, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 19:38.8; 11. Jayde James, UTSA 19:40.0; 12. Kayla Pratt, UTSA 19:40.1; 25. Courtney Nelson, UTSA 20:37.1; 48. Baylee Holder, UTSA 23:32.7.
Men’s 5k
Team Standings
1. Texas-Pan American 49; 2. Texas 56; 3. UTSA 65; 4. Houston 79; 5. Trinity 104; 6. UTSA Alumni 165; 7. Texas A&M International 206; 8. Schreiner 244; 9. Texas A&M-Kingsville 246
Individual Results (Top 10 plus UTSA runners)
1. Jacob Hernandez, Texas 15:39.0; 2. Angel Ramirez, Texas-Pan American 15:41.0; 3. Nate Pineda, Houston 15:43.0; 4. Bryant Wright, Trinity 15:43.0; 5. Robert Wetzel, Texas 15:45.1; 6. Logan Gonzales, Texas 15:45.9; 7. Layne Nixon, UTSA 15:48.8; 8. Roberto Najera, Texas-Pan American 15:49.4; 9. Ivan Garcia, UTSA 15:51.3; 10. Chase Armstrong, Trinity 15:55.1; 14. Michael Cook, UTSA 16:06.0; 16; Corey Vargas, UTSA 16:13.7; 19. Albert Cardenas, UTSA 16:23.5; 23. Jake Orndorff, UTSA 16:39.1; 24. Dominick Zucconi, UTSA 16:41.1; 25. Cole Reveal, UTSA 16:44.3; 34. Eric Doll, UTSA 17:00.9; 35. Al Johnson, UTSA 17:00.9