Senior Dana Mecke finished eighth among collegians to lead UTSA on Saturday.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Senior Dana Mecke finished eighth and sophomore Layne Nixon placed 28th to lead a solid effort by the UTSA cross country teams on Saturday morning at the Chile Pepper Festival.
Competing for the first time in three weeks, Mecke led a quartet of Roadrunners in the women’s 6k race. The reigning Southland Conference champion covered the Agri Park trail in a time of 21:15.19 to finish 10th overall and eighth among collegiate competitors.
Sophomore Kayla Pratt was close behind in 18th place, crossing the line with a 21:37.04 clocking in the 268-person field. Her performance put UTSA in a group of six teams that placed two runners in the top 18 (Texas Tech, BYU, SMU, Arkansas and Missouri).
Senior Pernilla Savestrand was the third Roadrunner to cross, placing 52nd among collegians in 22:31.08, while sophomore Courtney Nelson was 140th in 23:40.19. Freshman Ashley Benes started the race, but did not finish. Fellow first-year performer Jessica Bitterly did not make the trip, leaving UTSA with five runners to start the race.
Meanwhile, Nixon led the men with a 28th-place showing in the team’s first 10k race of the season. He toured the Agri Park trail in a time of 31:03.27, which was fourth among Southland Conference competitors.
Redshirt sophomore Brandon Chiuminetta and freshman Jim Stitt led a pack of four Runners that finished in a pack to help UTSA place 10th in the 29-team field. Chiuminetta was 64th in 31:56.05, while Stitt was right behind in 65th with a 31:57.65 clocking. Sophomore Albert Cardenas was two spots back in 67th with a 32:03.14 effort, while senior Corey Vargas was 68th in 32:06.00.
Sophomore Michael Cook and redshirt freshman Daniel Balbontin also competed, placing 82nd (32:21.03) and 90th (32:30.53), respectively.
Oklahoma State won the team title with 21 points behind Colby Lowe’s individual victory in 29:30.90. Oklahoma was second with 52, followed by Kansas (89), Virginia Tech (98), Texas Tech (214), Loyola Marymount (222), Missouri (223), McNeese State (232), UALR (278) and UTSA (292).
Lillian Badaru of Texas Tech won the women’s race in 20:31.52 to help the Red Raiders take the team crown with 35 points. BYU was second with 77, while Arkansas grabbed third with 87 points.
The Roadrunners will take next weekend off before traveling to Corpus Christi for the Southland Conference Championships on Saturday, Oct. 31.