SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA men's and women's cross country programs enter the championship portion of their schedule on Saturday, Oct. 28 when the Roadrunners step to the starting line at the 2017 Conference USA Championships.
The event
The 2017 Conference USA Championships, hosted by Southern Miss, will be contested Choctaw Trails in Clinton, Miss. The course will be run at a 5,000-meter distance for women's race and have an 8,000-meter setup for the men's event. The men's race will start at 9 a.m., followed by the women 10 a.m.
The Choctaw Trails course sprawls over nearly 300 acres, and is widely regarded as one of the top pure cross country courses in the nation. The beauty of the course is the mix of open rolling hills and wooded trails. The facility is also regarded as a great spectator course.
??The @ConferenceUSA Cross Country Championships are tomorrow with men's 8K race at 9 am and the women's 5K race at 10 am. #BirdsUp?? pic.twitter.com/nlenm3HLyH
— UTSA Track & XC (@UTSATrackXC) October 27, 2017
The competition
All C-USA member institutions that sponsor men's or women's cross country automatically qualify for the championships. Charlotte, FIU, Florida Atlantic, Louisiana Tech, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Rice, UTEP, UTSA and WKU each have a men's and women's team. Southern Miss and UAB have women's teams only.
Representing the Roadrunners
Nine men and nine women will represent the Blue and Orange at the C-USA Championship.
Lining up for the men are Monty Bertschy (24:51.7 // 8K PR), Luca Chatham (25:51.0 // 8K PR), Matthew David (first 8K race), Edgar Garcia (first 8K race), Hunter Hawkins (26:12.6 // 8K PR), Martin Luevano (26:13.9 // 8K PR), Josh Rodriguez (first 8K race), Peter Sepulveda (25:39.2 // 8K PR) and John von Dohlen (25:32.4 // 8K PR).
The women's team consists of Yulisa Abundis (18:21.2 // 5K PR), Lynette Amaram (20:13.6 // 5K PR), Amber Boyd (18:49.3 // 5K PR), Sarah Estrada (19:37.3 // 5K PR), Olivia Flores (19:52.5 // 5K PR), Colleen Gilbert (19:17.2 // 5K PR), Gabby Gonzales (19:30.6 // 5K PR), Charlette Janicek (19:36.9 // 5K PR) and Emily Voss (18:46.6 // 5K PR).
Quoting UTSA cross country coach David Hartman
"The teams have been getting better and better as the weeks and the season have gone on and I believe they are ready for the C-USA Championships. All the workout that the student-athletes have gone through this summer and throughout the season have built toward this championship and I look forward to seeing the teams perform at a high level."
Results
Live results are available HERE and will be posted on goUTSA.com following the event.