Oct. 1, 2005
The University of Texas-Pan American men's cross country finished sixth overall out of 24 teams at the Cowboy Jamboree hosted by Oklahoma State on Saturday (Oct. 1) while the Lady Broncs recorded a 14th-place finish in Stillwater, OK.
Senior Westly Keating (Pharr, TX/University of Texas) finished third overall out of 238 runners for the second consecutive meet as he recorded a time of 24:53 in the 8,000-meter race, which was the fifth-fastest time in program history.
"Westly ran an absolutely fantastic race," said head coach Ricky Vaughn. "He is really showing that he's in terrific shape. The three runners that finished in front of him are all studs, and Westly showed that he can compete right along with them."
Fellow senior Hector Gandara (Mission, TX/Pratt Community College) placed 17th overall with a time of 26:03 at the Cowboy Jamboree, which was his second straight top-20 finish this season.
Newcomers Luis Nava (La Joya, TX/La Joya H.S.) and Alex Moncivais (Pharr, TX/Texas A&M - Kingsville) crossed the end line in 26:51 and 27:53 to finish 41st and 61st, respectively.
Juan Davila (Donna, TX/Donna H.S.) finished 71st with a time of 27:36 while J.J. Hernandez (San Juan, TX/PSJA North H.S.) and Americo Ortiz (Pharr, TX/PSJA North H.S.) crossed the finish line in 88th and 106th, respectively.
The University of Arkansas captured the team championship with a total score of 41 points while Abilene Christian (103), Oklahoma State (109), Texas A&M (157), Rice (179) and UTPA (193) rounded out the top six.
"We raced a really solid meet today, and we thought that we could've finished a little higher, but our freshmen are still trying to get experience running a longer distance. The course was extremely wet and muddy, but our guys did a solid job overall," added Vaughn.
The Lady Broncs were paced by freshman Sara Rodriguez (Pharr, TX/Valley View H.S.), who crossed the end line 22nd overall out of 153 runners with a time of 19:25. It was the collegiate debut for Rodriguez at the Cowboy Jamboree.
Junior Karla Hernandez (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg H.S.) was 59th overall with a time of 20:55 while fellow junior Ashley Perez (Falfurrias, TX/Falfurrias H.S.) came in 69th-place at the 21:08 mark.
Freshman Rose Escovedo (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg North H.S.) came in 76th-place with a time of 21:23 while Lorraine Garcia (Laredo, TX/Nixon H.S.) and Sharon Toroitich (Eldama-Ravin, Kenya/Butler C.C.) cross the end line in 91st and 102nd-place, respectively.
Oklahoma State came away with the women's team championship with a total score of 41 while Wichita State (61), Syracuse (124), Tulsa (143) and Abilene Christian (195) rounded out the top five. The Lady Broncs accumulated 317 points for a 14th-place finish.
"I was a little disappointed with the women because I think that they need to mentally prepare harder for the course. They are running against the course instead of the competitors, but this meet shows us what we need to work on and we'll get better before our next meet," said Vaughn.
The Broncs will be back in action at the Pre-Nationals Meet in Terre Haute, IN, on Oct. 15th while the Lady Broncs will compete at the Chili's Pepper Invitational hosted by the University of Arkansas on that same day.
UTPA Sports Information
