BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros cross country teams showed their progress Friday at the NCAA South Central Regional at Texas A&M's Dale Watts Cross Country Course, capturing two personal bests and four best regional finishes. 
 
All three returners on the women's team – senior Samantha Gonzalez, junior PSJA High alum Faith Cruz and sophomore Kailey Salazar – earned their best regional finishes. Gonzalez led the pack with a 65^th place finish in 21:11.6. Cruz took 83^rd in 21:33.3, narrowly missing a personal best. Junior Lilliana Guerrero was 129^th in 22:16.7 and Salazar followed in 141^st, running 22:32.2. 
 
A pair of freshmen and local products in Santa Maria alum Mia Picazo and Rio Grande City alum Morgan Ramos made their postseason debuts and took 171^st and 201^st, respectively. The Vaqueros women finished 22^nd as a group in the 29-team field. Arkansas won the women's team title, followed by Texas in second and Tulane in third. UTRGV finished ahead of three conference foes in Incarnate Word (23^rd), McNeese (26^th) and Nicholls (28^th), as well as Sam Houston, Abilene Christian, Tarleton State and UTSA. 
 
In the men's race, UTRGV's experienced runners also set the tone for their team. Junior Abraham Morales and sophomore McAllen Rowe alum Kevin Cardenas both tabbed 10K personal bests as they finished 110^th and 152^nd, respectively. Morales clocked in at 32:34.6 and Cardenas followed in 33:37.7, capturing his best finish at the regional level. 
 
Sophomore Mario Cantarero took 157^th in 34:49.9 while freshman Mario Guzman finished 168^th in 34:49.9. Freshman Weslaco East alum Eric Davis followed one minute later to round out the scoring with a 175^th place finish in 35:49.9. Freshman Edinburg Vela alum Ethan De Leon was 180^th. 
 
UTRGV's men's team finished 24^th out of 26 teams. Arkansas, Tulane and Texas took the top three spots in the team standings. The Vaqueros finished ahead of Nicholls and Texas Southern. 
 
UTRGV Individual Results 
Women's 6K 
65. Samantha Gonzalez, 21:11.6
83. Faith Cruz, 21:33.3
129. Lilliana Guerrero, 22:16.7
141. Kailey Salazar, 22:32.2
171. Mia Picazo, 23:09.9
201. Morgan Ramos, 25:13.9
 
Men's 10K 
110. Abraham Morales, 32:34.6
152. Kevin Cardenas, 33:37.7
157. Mario Cantarero, 33:56.4
168. Mario Guzman, 34:49.9
175. Eric Davis, 35:49.9
180. Ethan De Leon, 36:18.0
 
Women's Team Standings
1. Arkansas, 80 points 
2. Texas, 81
3. Tulane, 107
4. LSU, 110
5. SMU, 119
6. Texas A&M, 164
7. Lamar, 171
8. Rice, 252
9. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 361
10. Central Arkansas, 381
11. Baylor, 386
12. Arkansas State, 416
13. Houston Christian, 441
14. North Texas, 449
15. Houston, 465
16. New Orleans, 482
17. Stephen F. Austin, 484
18. TCU, 488
19. Louisiana, 489
20. Little Rock, 504
21. UT Arlington, 551
22. UTRGV, 570
23. Incarnate Word, 580
24. Sam Houston, 624
25. Abilene Christian, 625
26. McNeese, 665
27. Tarleton State, 677
28. Nicholls, 760
29. UTSA, 819
 
Men's Team Standings
1. Arkansas, 33 points
2. Tulane, 76
3. Texas, 84
4. Texas A&M, 127
5. Incarnate Word, 163
6. TCU, 238
7. Stephen F. Austin, 254
8. Sam Houston, 254
9. Tarleton State, 267
10. Arkansas State, 282
11. Rice, 289
12. North Texas, 316
13. Houston, 318
14. Lamar, 397
15. Central Arkansas, 431
16. Abilene Christian, 435
17. Texas State, 437
18. UT Arlington, 458
19. Louisiana-Monroe, 471
20. Houston Christian, 506
21. Louisiana, 521
22. McNeese, 601
23. UTSA, 658
24. UTRGV, 698
25. Nicholls, 771
26. Texas Southern, 785

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