SAN ANTONIO – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros cross country men and women will be back in action Friday to compete in the UIW Invitational at the Windcrest Golf Club. 
 
The men's team will run an 8K race starting at 8 a.m., and the women's team will follow at 8:40 a.m. with a 5K race. The course is described as mostly flat with some small rolling hills that provide a slight elevation change. UTRGV had a good outing when they competed on this same course last season, with the men earning a ffith-place finish and the women taking eighth with three combined top-25 finishes. 
 
"We're so excited to go back to the UIW Invitational. It has been a great meet for us historically," head track & field/cross country coach Shareese Hicks said. "Assistant distance coach Ricardo Mendoza has been able to locate some hills, he has been very innovative in that way, so getting some resistance training done with this group is going to lead to some spectacular times early in the season." 
 
The Vaqueros ran in tough conditions at the season-opening meet on the Padre Island seashore in Corpus Christi, having to trek through soft sand and endure differing course textures. Returning to their usual surface on a grass course should bode well, especially for the veterans who have competed in this meet in previous seasons. Junior PSJA High alum Faith Cruz, senior Samantha Gonzalez, sophomore Kailey Salazar, junior Abraham Morales and sophomores Kevin Cardenas and Mario Cantarero are a few standouts Hicks expects to do well Friday. 
 
"We've got a lot of stars," Hicks said. "Faith is continuing to set herself up for some personal bests. She's due to do something very spectacular. Our veteran, Sam, she knows how to run different courses. Her experience is huge. And then our young captain, Kailey, I call her Killer Kailey. She knows how to compete. She's a very gutsy runner and is very exciting to watch. On the men's side, our captain Abe is definitely taking his leadership role very seriously. He's been leading the pack and will do that again this weekend against some pretty good competition along with Kevin and Mario." 
 
Over the two weeks since their last meet, the Vaqueros have been working on 1K repeats and building speed endurance to have strong finishes. They push each other hard in practice and run well together, and Hicks believes if they bring that to the course Friday, they'll be in a good spot. 
 
"They're going to continue to work together and bring out the best in one another," Hicks said. "The way they train is so phenomenal to watch. They know how to work pace and work with each other really well, so putting that together in a competition setting is going to be huge." 

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