Nov. 21, 2005
UTPA senior Westly Keating (Pharr, TX/University of Texas) earned his third All-American honor in cross country after he finished fifth overall out of 253 runners at the 2005 NCAA Division I Cross Country National Championships in Terre Haute, IN, on Monday (Nov. 21).
"I thought that I ran a really good race," said Keating. "I was hoping to start out faster, but when you that many runners packed together, it's hard to get off to a fast start. Towards the second 5K, the top five runners started to separate themselves from the pack, and we all fought it out. It would have been nice to win it, but I was really proud of the way that I ran out there."
"I'm really excited for Westly. We thought that he had a good chance to win it when we got here, but he ran hard the entire time and gave a great effort. As a coach, I'm proud of both Westly and Hector (Gandara) because they gave it 100 percent on the course today and didn't leave anything behind. They gave a tremendous effort, and I believe that they both went out with a bang," said head men's and women's track and field / cross country coach Ricky Vaughn.
Keating finished the 10,000-meter race in 29:38.1, which was the second fastest time in program history. Earlier this season, the UTPA senior placed third on the same course at the Pre-Nationals Meet where he finished in 23:43 during the 8K race. In each of his last two NCAA Division I Cross Country National Championships, Keating finished 25th overall in 2002 and seventh overall in 2003.
Senior Hector Gandara (Mission, TX/Pratt Community College) finished 206th overall with a time of 31:57.9 in the 10,000-meter race. It was the first time that Gandara had competed at nationals after he placed 14th overall at the NCAA Division I Regional Championships.
"Westly worked hard out there today, and he was in the front of the pack for the majority of the race until a couple of guys pulled away at the end. He had his best finish out there today, and I was extremely happy for him. Hector was a little banged up out there today, but he battled and never gave up. I think what was the most important for him today was that he didn't give up and he gave 100 percent out there. I believe that both Westly and Hector were great representatives for our program and university," said assistant cross country coach Brian Cunningham.
Simon Bairu of Wisconsin captured the national championship as he finished the 10,000-meter race in 29:15.9, which was six seconds faster than the runner-up Richard Kiplagat of Iona. Wisconsin teammate Chris Solinsky finished third overall while Josh McDougal of Liberty was fourth followed by Keating.
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