COLLEGE STATION – The UTSA men's and women's cross country teams conclude their 2017 campaigns Friday at the NCAA Division I Cross Country South Central Regional, hosted by Texas A&M at Watts Cross Country Course.
Each UTSA finisher posted a personal-best as the women competed at a 6,000-meter distance and the men 10,000 meters.
"The teams performed great at the NCAA Regional today," said coach David Hartman. "All of our student-athletes set their personal-records. It was a good way to finish our cross country season."
Freshman Amber Boyd led the Roadrunners women, while senior John von Dohlen led the men. Boyd finished 51st overall in her first collegiate 6K event with a time of 21:23.9.
"I didn't expect to be running cross country this season," said Boyd. "But it was a great first season for me and the team pushed every meet and overall, we did great. Everyone on the team has pushed one another and I know we will continue to get better throughout the seasons.
"The team has been wonderful, I feel like I am at home and I am grateful to be a part of the UTSA cross country."
Shortly across the line after Boyd for the UTSA women was Yulisa Abundis in 55th with a 21:30.1 – a PR improvement of three seconds. Gabby Gonzales lowered her PR by nearly 30 seconds with a 22:30.4 to place 111th, while Emily Voss (114th) took 32 seconds off her previous 6K-best with a 22:35.5. Colleen Gilbert (141st // 23:10.8), Sarah Estrada (149th // 23:20.4) and Olivia Flores (164th // 24:31.2) lowered their 6K PRs by 37 seconds, 10 seconds and two seconds, respectively.
"We did what we could with what we had," said von Dohlen. "I have no doubt that the effort and drive was present from everyone. We have a relatively young team and it takes time to adjust to the volume and intensity of collegiate cross country. This program has a bright future ahead.
"I finished the race with nothing left, and that is all I could have hoped for. There is beauty in the pain. Now the excitement builds for the upcoming track & field season and the grind will continue."
Von Dohlen closed his UTSA cross country career with a 75th-place finish and a 10K PR of 32:07.3 – an improvement of 31 seconds. Peter Sepulveda placed 109th with a time of 32:41.5, shaving nearly seven seconds off his previous personal-best. Martin Luevano (127th) and Josh Rodriguez (128th) stopped the clock with seven tenths of a second of one another with times of 33:17.9 and 33:18.6, respectively. Luevano's time was a 36 second betterment on his PR, while Rodriguez's race was his first at a 10K distance. Hunter Hawkins (138 // 33:41.5) and Luca Chatham (144 // 34:00.7) rounded out the Roadrunners contingent. Hawkins' race was also his first at 10K as a collegian, while Chatham upgraded his PR by 50 seconds.
The UTSA women placed 19th overall and the men 21st in the 24-team fields. Both the Arkansas men and women won the event and the Texas men and women claimed runner-up finishes. Both programs advance to the 2017 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championship in Louisville, Ky. On Nov. 18.
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