Men's Results |
Women's Results
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Sophomore
Abraham Chirchir punched his return ticket to the NCAA Championships to put an exclamation point on a big day for The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) men's and women's cross country teams at the NCAA South Central Regional on Friday at Agri Park.
Chirchir finished sixth out of 156 in the 10K with a personal record time of 30:12.2, the sixth-fastest in program history. The top two teams and the top four runners not affiliated with those teams advance to the NCAA Championships. Texas, the No. 29 team in the nation, placed three runners in the top five to win the regional championship. Arkansas came in second with one runner ahead of Chirchir.
Chirchir will compete in the 10K at the NCAA Championships for the second year in a row on Nov. 23 at 12:15 p.m. at Indiana State.
As a team, UTRGV came in seventh out of 22 with 226 points and an average time of 31:39, behind only Texas, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Lamar, Rice and Arkansas State. UTRGV placed five runners in the top half.
In his first-career 10K, freshman
Alex Munoz finished 26
th with a time of 31:16.9. Junior Weslaco alum
Juan Manzano came in 60
th with a personal record time of 32:04.7. Senior
Omer Almog placed 65
th with a personal record time of 32:15.4. Senior La Joya alum
Ricardo Mendoza finished 69
th with a personal record time of 32:27.0.
On the women's side, UTRGV, which had fallen out of the regional rankings entering the meet, stunned the field by finishing in fourth out of 22 with 164 points and an average time of 22:07.18. UTRGV finished behind only Arkansas (15 points), the No. 1 team in the nation, Texas (63 points), which is receiving votes in the national poll, and Texas A&M (106 points).
Sophomore
Dorcas Koech finished 12
thout of 150 in the 6K with a time of 21:16.4, the sixth-best in program history. Koech finished one spot shy of an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, as seven of the runners ahead of her were from Arkansas and Texas, which qualified as teams, meaning the four remaining runners in front of her qualified as well. Koech was closest to Texas A&M's
Ashley Driscoll, who finished 11
thwith a time of 21:01.0.
UTRGV had five runners finish in the top third. Senior
Sierra Spinler came in 29
th with a personal record time of 22:08.6. Freshman
Sharon Koima finished 33
rd with a time of 22:13.3. Senior Edinburg North alum
Bryana Rios placed 45
thwith a time of 22:27.1. Junior PSJA Southwest alum
Alma Villanueva came in 46
thwith a time of 22:30.5.
UTRGV Men's Cross Country Results (10K)
Men's Team Results
| 1. |
No. 29 Texas |
39 |
| 2. |
Arkansas |
67 |
| 3. |
Texas A&M |
128 |
| 4. |
Lamar |
134 |
| 5. |
Rice |
202 |
| 6. |
Arkansas State |
221 |
| 7. |
UTRGV |
226 |
| 8. |
LSU |
246 |
| 9. |
UT Arlington |
280 |
| 10. |
Baylor |
306 |
| 11. |
Houston |
319 |
| 12. |
McNeese State |
320 |
| 13. |
North Texas |
328 |
| 14. |
Abilene Christian |
336 |
| 15. |
Stephen F. Austin |
351 |
| 16. |
Corpus Christi |
358 |
| 17. |
Incarnate Word |
363 |
| 18. |
Southeast Louisiana |
431 |
| 19. |
Tulane |
487 |
| 20. |
Texas Southern |
539 |
| 21. |
Little Rock |
604 |
| 22. |
Nicholls State |
673 |
UTRGV Women's Cross Country Results (6K)
Women's Team Results
| 1. |
No. 1 Arkansas |
15 |
| 2. |
(RV) Texas |
63 |
| 3. |
Texas A&M |
106 |
| 4. |
UTRGV |
164 |
| 5. |
Rice |
180 |
| 6. |
Arkansas State |
186 |
| 7. |
Stephen F. Austin |
237 |
| 8. |
Houston |
267 |
| 9. |
Baylor |
275 |
| 10. |
UT Arlington |
335 |
| 11. |
Abilene Christian |
341 |
| 12. |
LSU |
354 |
| 13. |
Central Arkansas |
363 |
| 14. |
Incarnate Word |
366 |
| 15. |
Corpus Christi |
384 |
| 16. |
SMU |
393 |
| 17. |
North Texas |
418 |
| 18. |
Tulane |
443 |
| 19. |
Lamar |
469 |
| 20. |
Little Rock |
509 |
| 21. |
McNeese State |
560 |
| 22. |
Nicholls State |
662 |
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