SAN ANTONIO – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's and women's cross country teams open the season Friday back on a familiar course as they return to the UIW Invitational. 
 
The Vaqueros will run at the Windcrest Golf Club for the seventh consecutive season. The men will run a 4-miler starting at 8 a.m., and the women will run a 5K at 8:40 a.m. The course is described as mostly flat with a few small, rolling hills and is all grass. UTRGV will compete against 12 teams from across Texas and Oklahoma. 
 
"The squad is thrilled to return to the course and bring the pride and spirit of the Valley with them. Season openers can come with nerves, but having a familiar competition site eases a lot of anxiousness," head track & field/cross country coach Shareese Hicks said. "We have a great group that is really ready to hit the course against some great competition this weekend. It's always great to knock the rust off and get it going." 
 
UTRGV's women's team was fourth at this meet in 2024 and returns three of the four student-athletes who tabbed top-15 finishes, including Kailey Salazar, Lilliana Guerrero and PSJA High alum Faith Cruz. The men's team returns its top two finishers from the last season's meet. Returning to a course where many of the older athletes had success gives them an opportunity to instill confidence in the new members of the squad. 
 
"It gives our veterans a chance to show some leadership and calm down our freshmen and transfers that might be a little bit anxious to compete, reminding them to stay within themselves and be very confident. They've done some really good things in training with distance coach Ricardo Mendoza so it's time to put it all together." 
 
As the Vaqueros get their competition season underway, Hicks wants them to focus on supporting and challenging each other as they work toward bigger goals for down the road. 
 
"We're racing not only to be contenders, but to push each other as individuals and as a team," Hicks said. "The better they work together on these trails, the better the outcome is going to be. I'm really excited to see how they work together and, more importantly, how our leaders step up going against some good competition." 

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