BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – There will be a lot to run for when The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley's cross country teams toe the starting line at the Arturo Barrios Invitational at Texas A&M's Dale Watts Cross Country Course on Saturday. 
 
The Vaqueros will be competing in the largest meet of their season, featuring a whopping 41 teams from across the country including the Aggies, Baylor, Florida, LSU, Ohio State, TCU, New Mexico State, Sam Houston, SFA, Tarleton and UT-Arlington. It will be the final tune-up before the Western Athletic Conference Championship on Oct. 29, and with six teams from the conference attending, the race will provide a small glimpse at where the Vaqueros stand. 
 
UTRGV's student-athletes will also be in an internal battle with rival runners from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi as part of the South Texas Showdown presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union. 
 
"Ultimately, TAMUCC is just one more team we have to race against at a big meet like this. But they have a good team and some really good individuals, so we want to find them where they are and work a little harder to get those guys," UTRGV distance coach Travis Pope said. "The nice thing is a lot of our conference and regional teams are going to be there, and this is where the NCAA South Central Regional meet is going to be in November, so we'll get used to the course and the teams that are going to be there and figure out who our competition is going to be." 
 
The men's team will run an 8K race at 9 a.m., followed by the women's team running a 6K race at 9:45 a.m. UTRGV ran those same distances at the UIW Invitational two weeks ago with significant success. All five scored men's runners finished in the Top 20 enroute to a season-best second place team finish. The women's team took fifth place. Collectively, the Vaqueros ran three personal records. 
 
UTRGV is ready to build on the strong outing and increase its momentum heading into championship season. Pope praised freshmen Abraham Morales and McAllen Memorial alum Sebastian Salinas for exceeding his expectations in their first 8K race, and Salinas hopes to do the same on Saturday. 
 
"The last meet did build my confidence and it rolled over into my training. I felt like I was able to push more than before. I am really excited for this meet," Salinas said. "I know it's going to be a fast course and the start is pretty big but it does get small really fast, so the start is going to be key. I'm trying to get out really fast so I don't get boxed in behind and just go from there, pass one person at a time. I'm expecting myself and my teammates to do great and hopefully PRs all around." 
 
Pope is pleased with where the men's team is and expects good performances from both squads, particularly hoping to see Salinas and Morales run well again and for sophomore Brownsville Porter alum Estrella Medellin to have a good meet. Sophomore Samantha Gonzalez has been the women's team's top performer in both meets this season.  
The Vaqueros have been focusing on fine-tuning their fitness and increasing their speed through tough training for the upcoming stretch of meets and will emphasize strong starts to have success on Saturday. 
 
"A lot of good teams are going to be there, so getting good starts and getting out and competing with the people around them are what my expectations are. If they do that, I think we'll have a very good race," Pope said. 

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