ABILENE, Texas — Jake Smith finished fourth in the men's 8,000 meters and Abby Balli registered a fifth-place showing in the women's 6,000 to lead the UTSA cross country teams to a pair of third-place finishes at the Naimadu Classic on Saturday morning.
Smith, a junior from Yuma, Ariz., was the first Roadrunner to cross the finish line with a time of 25:42.77 to lead the men to a third-place showing in the team standings. He was joined in the top 10 by freshman Luke Lawhorn, who clocked a 27:19.05 for 10th.
Idol Ramon and Omar Bekdache finished 13th (27:52.64) and 14th (27:53.44), respectively, while JD Corona rounded out the UTSA top five in 16th (28:18.80). Michael Paredes (17th/28:21.63) and Joshua Gonzalez (18th/28:25.50) closed out the lineup.
Abilene Christian won the team title with 31 points, followed closely by Texas State (33).
Balli, a junior from Pasadena, paced the women with a fifth-place time of 22:42.49 to guide the Roadrunners to third place. Amber Boyd, a senior from Copperas Cove, was close behind her in eighth with a 23:52.79 clocking.
Marissa Martinez was the third Roadrunner to cross the finish line, as the junior from San Antonio posted a time of 24:47.05. Briana Gonzalez and Zoie Reyna finished out the top five in 15th (25:16.03) and 19th (26:08.83), respectively.
Joy Ojeda (20th/26:24.83), Carolina Ortiz (22nd/26:42.62), Brooke Lomax (26:57.36) and Karina Fernandez (27:10.33) rounded out the UTSA lineup.
"It was good to actually compete," UTSA cross country coach David Hartman said. "It has been a while. The wind was brutal, so it slowed the times significantly. Overall, it was a great start and prepared us for the conference championship in two weeks."
Abilene Christian also claimed the women's crown with 21 points and Texas State was second (48)
The Roadrunners will return to the course on Oct. 31 when they travel to Birmingham, Ala., for the Conference USA Championships.
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