BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) women's and men's cross country teams combined to set 12 new personal records (PRs) on Saturday at the Arturo Barrios Invitational, hosted by Texas A&M, at the Dale Watts Cross Country Course.
 
Seven of the eight women's runners set new PRs in the 6K while five of the eight men's runners broke their PRs in the 8K.
 
On the women's side, freshman Samantha Gonzalez led UTRGV with a PR time of 22:28.6 to finish 104^th out of 265 total runners. Junior Anahi Romo also finished in the top half, placing 127^th with a time of 23:00.0, her best time since the 2018 NCAA South Central Regional Championships. All the remaining runners PRed, including freshman Weslaco alum Aaliyah Garza (23:13.8), freshman Porter alum Estrella Medellin (23:41.2), freshman Sharyland alumni Andrea Gallardo (23:50.8) and Ana Hernandez (24:13.8), freshman Nikki Rowe alum Janie Delgado (24:32.9), and freshman Sharyland alum Delilah Vega (25:52.9)
 
On the men's side, junior Abraham Chirchir finished 41^st out of 261 runners with a time of 24:31.3, his best since the 2019 Arturo Barrios Invitational.
 
Sophomore Alex Munoz also recorded his best time since the 2019 Arturo Barrios Invitational, finishing in 25:10.8 to place 88^th.
 
Junior Edinburg North alum Tristan Pena finished 96^th with a time of 25:17.8, the third best time of his career, while freshman Ricardo Garcia came in 98^th with a PR time of 25:18.1.
 
Four other runners set new PRs, including freshman Rio Grande City alum Alex Canales (26:13.8), sophomore Harlingen alum Edward Ramos (26:14.7), and freshmen Edcouch-Elsa alumni Dominik Medrano (26:19.4) and Albino Rodriguez (27:50.6).
 
This meet, which included Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, counts as part of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union.
 
On the men's side, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi placed 11^th out of 32 with 295 points and an average time of 24:43.37 while UTRGV came in 18^th with 454 points and an average time of 25:18.33.
 
On the women's side, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi finished 11^th out of 33 with 341 points and an average time of 22:03.05 while UTRGV came in 25^th with 650 points and an average time of 23:14.86.
 
UTRGV now trails 12-3 in the showdown standings.
 
UTRGV is back in action on Oct. 30 at the Western Athletic Conference Championships, hosted by California Baptist. The men compete in an 8K at 11 a.m. with the women following with a 6K at 12 p.m.
 
The next event of the of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union, is on Oct. 25 when volleyball visits Corpus Christi.
 
UTRGV Men's Cross Country Results (8K)

Place	Runner	Time	Points
41.	Abraham Chirchir	24:31.3	33
88.	Alex Munoz	25:10.6	84
96.	Tristan Pena	25:17.8	91
98.	Ricardo Garcia	25:18.1	93
165.	Alex Canales	26:13.8	146
166.	Edward Ramos	26:14.7	147
170.	Dominik Medrano	26:19.4	151
229.	Albino Rodriguez	27:50.6

 
Men's Team Results

Place	Runner	Avg. Time	Points
1.	Lipscomb	24:02.71	93
2.	UTEP	24:13.98	141
3.	North Texas	24:15.39	148
4.	LSU	24:17.14	170
5.	Texas A&M	24:26.90	204
6.	Middle Tennessee State	24:25.50	211
7.	McNeese State	24:30.45	214
8.	Louisville	24:29.50	217
9.	Lamar	24:37.78	272
10.	Incarnate Word	24:43.37	280
11.	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	24:43.37	295
12.	Idaho State	24:50.97	329
13.	Abilene Christian	24:58.21	357
14.	Sam Houston	24:57.29	371
15.	Baylor	25:02.84	385
16.	Stephen F. Austin	25:07.28	414
17.	Texas Tech	25:10.94	433
18.	UTRGV	25:18.33	454
19.	North Dakota	25:21.47	481
20.	Houston Baptist	25:39.36	528
21.	Tarleton	25:44.55	573
22.	Texas State	25:43.80	598
23.	TCU	26:01.25	669
24.	UTSA	26:23.13	710
25.	UT Arlington	26:21.24	722
26.	LeTourneau	26:19.17	725
27.	Tulane	26:24.63	732
28.	Kansas City	26:59.45	817
29.	Louisiana	26:44.69	817
30.	Texas Wesleyan	27:06.11	875
31.	Nicholls State	27:19.43	875
32.	Northwestern State	28:19.36	950

 
UTRGV Women's Cross Country Results (6K)

Place	Runner	Time	Points
104.	Samantha Gonzalez	22:28.6	96
127.	Anahi Romo	23:00.0	116
141.	Aaliyah Garza	23:13.8	129
170.	Estrella Medellin	23:41.2	150
183.	Andrea Gallardo	23.50.8	159
201.	Ana Hernandez	24:13.8	174
213.	Janie Delgado	24:32.9	183
246.	Delilah Vega	25:52.9

 
Women's Team Results

Place	Runner	Avg. Time	Points
1.	Lipscomb	21:00.94	72
2.	Middle Tennessee State	21:14.23	108
3.	Abilene Christian	21:13.92	133
4.	Texas A&M	21:20.65	150
5.	Rice	21:19.45	193
6.	SMU	21:35.79	226
7.	LSU	21:41.80	258
8.	Idaho State	21:46.94	268
9.	North Dakota	21:49.97	289
10.	UTEP	22:01.30	340
11.	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	22:03.05	341
12.	Baylor	22:04.98	350
13.	Louisville	22:07.37	372
14.	Incarnate Word	22:07.10	385
15.	UT Arlington	22:15.17	401
16.	Nicholls State	22:24.07	445
17.	McNeese State	22:26.24	452
18.	Kansas City	22:34.09	465
19.	Texas Tech	22:34.78	486
20.	Stephen F. Austin	22:49.93	552
21.	TCU	23:00.90	586
22.	UTSA	23:10.55	622
23.	Sam Houston	23:11.05	628
24.	Tulane	23:23.45	630
25.	UTRGV	23:14.85	650
26.	Texas State	23:23.99	724
27.	North Texas	23:44.15	739
28.	Lamar	24:12.58	776
29.	Houston Baptist	24:50.94	782
30.	Tarleton	23:58.27	809
31.	Louisiana	24:33.21	903
32.	Western Texas	24:53.52	945
33.	LeTourneau	28:31.49	1,066

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