BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Jake Smith led the UTSA men's cross country to a ninth-place finish and Abby Balli guided the women to 12th at the Conference USA Championships on Saturday morning at Veterans Park.
Smith led all Roadrunners with a 30th-place finish in the men' race. The junior out of Yuma, Ariz., covered the 8,000-meter loop in a time of 25:46.53 in registering the top league placing of his UTSA career.
Matthew David was the second UTSA runner to cross, clocking a 26:21.25 for 39th.
Harrison Wade finished 50th in 26:49.63 and Idol Ramon was close behind in 53rd with a 27:00.90 clocking, while Luke Lawhorn closed out the top five in 59th with a 27:29.53.
JD Corona and Omar Bekdache finished 60th (27:29.99) and 61st (27:42.24) to round out the UTSA lineup.
The men scored 231 points for ninth in the team standings, ahead of FIU (268) and Florida Atlantic (298) and just behind Marshall (190) in a race won by Charlotte with 31 points.
Balli paced the Roadrunners for the second straight meet, covering the 6k course in a time of 23:25.15 to place 43rd, a career-best finish for the junior from Pasadena, Texas.
Briana Gonzalez finished 61st with a time of 24:07.62, followed closely by Marissa Martinez, who crossed 65th in 24:18.48.
Amber Boyd was 68th with a 24:40.58 and Brooke Lomax rounded out the top five Roadrunners in 77th (25:33.25).
Joy Ojeda and Zoie Reyna closed out the lineup in 79th (25:43.65) and 83rd (26:39.18), respectively.
The women scored 309 points for 12th place in a team race won by Middle Tennessee with 31.
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