BOCA RATON, Fla. – The UTSA men's and women's cross country teams competed at the 2018 Conference USA Air Force Reserve Cross Country Championships Saturday morning in Boca Raton, Fla. The Roadrunners men placed seventh at the 8,000-meter event, while the women came home 10th, running a 5,000-meter distance.
Junior Peter Sepulveda led the men's squad, while senior Colleen Gilbert paced the women.
North Texas won the men's team title with 43 total points. Charlotte was second, followed by Rice, UTEP, Louisiana Tech and Middle Tennessee. The men of UTSA totaled 182 points to place seventh in the 11-team field, finishing ahead of Marshall, Western Kentucky, Florida Atlantic and FIU.
Charlotte's Tom Nobles won the individual title, running a 23:55.9.
Peter Sepulveda paces the UTSA at the Conference USA Championship. Four Roadrunners clock 8K personal records. #BirdsUp🤙 pic.twitter.com/Y9qCSJMysh
— UTSA Track & XC (@UTSATrackXC) October 27, 2018
Sepulveda finished the race in 26:04.7 to place 30th overall. He was followed by freshman Jake Smith with a personal-best time of 26:15.6 in 33nd. Martin Luevano, a junior, was moments behind Smith in 34th with a 26:19.2. Personal-bests by freshman Josh Rodriguez (39th / 26:31.0) and sophomore Omar Bekdache (52nd / 27:15.4) rounded out UTSA's scorers. Sophomore Mathew David crossed in 27:28.3 to place 57th and freshman Christopher Wise ran a 27:53.2 PR to score 61st and count as UTSA's placers.
Seniors Hunter Hawkins and Luca Chatham used a times of 28:07.8 (66th) and 30:13.6 (82nd) to close out UTSA's efforts in the meet.
UTEP won the women's team title with 44 total points. Middle Tennessee was second, followed by Rice, Southern Miss, Charlotte, FIU, North Texas, UAB and Florida Atlantic. The UTSA women totaled 242 points to place 10th in the 13-team field, finishing ahead of Marshall, Western Kentucky and Louisiana Tech.
UTEP's Lina Cheruiyot was the individual champion with a time of 16:56.2.
Colleen Gilbert leads the UTSA women at the Conference USA Championship. In all, seven Roadrunners posted 5k personal bests. #BirdsUp🤙 pic.twitter.com/LSP5ynNtNr
— UTSA Track & XC (@UTSATrackXC) October 27, 2018
Led by Gilbert, seven of UTSA's nine competitors clocked collegiate 5K personal records in the event. Gilbert ran a personal-best 18:41.7 to place 39th in the 104-competitor field. Sophomore Amber Boyd used an 18:50.0 to place 47th. Freshman Briana Gonzalez crossed in 53nd with a 19:04.9 PR and junior Gabby Gonzales in a 19:08.4 PR to place 55th. Olivia Flores, a junior, was UTSA's fifth scorer as she stopped the clock at 19:12.9 to place 59th. Personal-bests by freshman Abby Balli (64th / 19:29.7) and senior Charlette Janicek (69th / 19:43.0) counted as UTSA's placers.
Newcomers Brooke Lomax (72nd / 19:53.3) and Marissa Martinez (74th / 19:56.3) each tallied personal-bests to round out the UTSA contingent.
Up next
UTSA competes at the NCAA South Central Regional in College Station on Friday, Nov. 9.
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