Dana Mecke opened her senior season by winning the Trinity Opener.
SAN ANTONIO — Senior Dana Mecke won the women’s two-mile race and sophomore Cole Reveal finished third on the men’s side to lead the UTSA cross country teams to a sweep of the team titles at the Trinity Opener held Tuesday morning at Olmos Park.
The women tallied a near-perfect score of 16 for a comfortable win ahead of Trinity (46) and Texas Lutheran (72), while the men edged Trinity, 28-30.
Mecke cruised to her ninth career victory, crossing in 11:01 on the Olmos Park course that measured slightly longer than two miles. Sophomore Kayla Pratt was second overall with an 11:33 effort, while freshman Ashley Benes and senior Pernilla Savestrand placed third (12:01) and fourth (12:07) respectively. Freshman Jessica Bitterly rounded out the top five in sixth (12:14) with sophomore Courtney Nelson close behind in seventh (12:37).
Reveal led a group of five Roadrunners that finished in the top nine in the men’s two-mile, covering the loop in 10:08. Freshman Jim Stitt was right behind in fourth with a 10:10 clocking, while senior Corey Vargas and sophomore Layne Nixon finished fifth (10:11) and seventh (10:12), respectively. Redshirt freshman Daniel Balbontin rounded out the top five in ninth place (10:20).
“We wanted to use this meet as a practice opportunity and learn some things about our team,” distance/cross country coach Scott Slade said. “Our goal was to run together for the first 1 ¾ miles and then open up the last quarter. We accomplished what we set out to do and will be ready to go when we get to the bigger meets.”
The Roadrunners return to action this Friday, Sept. 4, at the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Relays.
Trinity Opener
Tuesday, Sept. 1
Olmos Park (San Antonio, Texas)
Men
Team Standings
1. UTSA 28; 2. Trinity 30.
UTSA Finishers3. Cole Reveal 10:08; 4. Jim Stitt 10:10; 5. Corey Vargas 10:11; 7. Layne Nixon 10:12; 9. Daniel Balbontin 10:20; 10. Brandon Chiuminetta 10:23; 11. Albert Cardenas 10:23; 14. Eric Doll 10:29; 16. Ivan Garcia 10:35; 17. Dominick Zucconi 10:53.
Women
Team Standings
1. UTSA 16; 2. Trinity 46; 3. Texas Lutheran 72.
UTSA Finishers
1. Dana Mecke 11:01; 2. Kayla Pratt 11:33; 3. Ashley Benes 12:01; 4. Pernilla Savestrand 12:07; 6. Jessica Bitterly 12:14; 7. Courtney Nelson 12:37; 24. Rebecca Crain 14:50.