ROUND ROCK, Texas – The UTSA cross country programs opened their 2017 campaigns Thursday evening at the Texas Invitational, hosted at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock, with the men taking third and the women fourth. Monty Bertschy paced the men in the 6k, placing 21st overall with a time of 19:45.35, while Yulisa Abundis led the women in the 4k, stopping the clock at 15:05.32 to finish 17th.
"Overall, I was pleased with how both teams competed," said coach David Hartman. "This was our first meet of the year, so we showed some early season rust. However, I am excited about our teams this season as we have a lot of improvements that can be made and it is still extremely early in the season."
The Bertschy-led UTSA men finished behind Texas (15) and Texas Tech (50) in the team scoring, totaling 84 points. The Roadrunners edged out TCU (128) and Prairie View A&M (134).
"It was definitely a rust buster meet for the team," said Bertschy. " But, it's alright for this point in the season. We still have several weeks to get where we need to be.
"This past week I got a fortune cookie that said 'All your hard work will soon pay off,' so I have high hopes for our future."
Counting in the Roadrunners' team score in addition to the senior Bertschy were sophomore Peter Sepulveda (25th / 20:10.24), junior Luca Chatham (27th / 20:20.94), freshman Matthew David (29th / 20:23.35), senior John von Dohlen (20:30.35) and sophomore Martin Luevano (37th / 20:55.72).
Freshman Josh Rodriguez also made his collegiate debut, finishing 39th in 21:14.88, while sophomore Skye Knight crossed the line 49th with a time of 22:25.42.
Texas won the women's event with a team score of 23, followed by Texas Tech (56), TCU (57) and the Roadrunners with 112 points. Prairie View A&M (164), Ouachita Baptist (174) and Texas Southern (212) rounded out the field.
Abundis, a junior, was followed across the line by freshman Amber Boyd (28th / 15:26.34), sophomores Colleen Gilbert (30th 15:43.81), Gabby Gonzales (34th / 15:53.37), Charlette Janicek (35h / 15:54.42), Olivia Flores (38th / 16:07.06) and Rian Rodriguez (41st / 16:15.03) to comprise the UTSA team score.
Junior Emily Voss ran a 16:18.82 to finish 42nd, followed immediately by sophomore Lynette Amaram (16:19.87) in 43rd. Second-year 'Runners Sarah Estrada (16:47.29) placed 48th and Stephanie Sauceda (17:17.68) came home 50th to round out the UTSA contingent.
Up next
UTSA will travel to Indiana for the Notre Dame Invitational on Sat., Sept. 30.
