BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros cross country teams competed at Texas A&M's Arturo Barrios Invitational Friday at the Watts Cross Country Course, where senior N Vanee Anchike set a program record in the women's 6K and the women's team recorded two personal bests in its first 6K race of the season.
 
Anchike took 73rd with a time of 20:51.0, breaking record of 20:53.0 previously set by Mercy Chelangat in 2018 and lowering her own personal best, which she ran at this meet last year, by 24.1 seconds.
 
Freshman Harlingen South alum Jessica DeLeon followed in 92nd, running a time of 21:02.8 in the first 6K race of her career. Senior Kailey Salazar was 138th with a personal best of 21:25.5, and junior Santa Maria alum Mia Picazo came in 167th with a time of 21:41.2. Junior Economedes alum Maddison Surita rounded out the scoring in 235th with a time of 22:28.0, also in her first career 6K. Junior Lilian Mateo took 274th with a time of 23:32.6.
 
Arkansas won the women's team title, and UTRGV finished 24th of 46 teams. The Vaqueros were one of the nine Southland Conference (SLC) teams at the meet and finished third among the conference competitors, coming in behind Stephen F. Austin, which took sixth, and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, which was 16th. UTRGV came out ahead of Houston Christian, UIW, McNeese, Lamar, LSU New Orleans and Nicholls.
 
In the men's 8K, senior McAllen Rowe alum Kevin Cardenas led the Vaqueros with a personal best time of 25:30.5 to take 185th. Sophomore McAllen Memorial alum Roehl Rodriguez was next in 198th with a time of 25:42.5, followed by freshman Brock Morales, who ran a time of 25:55.8 to place 211th. Freshman Vanguard Rembrandt alum Gael Gonzalez set a personal best of 26:39.4 to take 232nd, and freshman PSJA Memorial alum Diego Piña rounded out the scoring in 244th with a time of 27:35.3. Adams State won the men's team title with 42 points, followed by App State (144) and Houston (173), while UTRGV finished 36th of 38 teams
 
UTRGV's next meet will be the Southland Conference Championships on Oct. 30 in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
 
UTRGV Individual Results
Women's 6K
73. N Vanee Anchike, 20:51.0
92. Jessica DeLeon, 21:02.8
138. Kailey Salazar, 21:25.5
167. Mia Picazo, 21:41.2
235. Maddison Surita, 22:28.0
272. Lilian Mateo, 23:32.6
 
Men's 8K
185. Kevin Cardenas, 25:30.5
198. Roehl Rodriguez, 25:42.5
211. Brock Morales, 25:55.8
232. Gael Gonzalez, 26:39.4
244. Diego Piña, 27:35.3
 
Women's Team Standings
1. Arkansas, 101 points
2. Eastern Kentucky, 122
3. Tulane, 136
4. San Francisco, 158
5. Adams State, 193
6. Stephen F. Austin, 215
7. Texas A&M, 230
8. LSU, 260
9. Tulsa, 288
10. Cal Poly, 369
11. Youngstown State, 409
12. UCF, 426
13. Houston, 453
14. Ohio State, 474
15. UT Arlington, 483
16. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 513
17. Arizona State, 518
18. New Mexico State, 523
19. TCU, 531
20. Texas, 532
21. Louisiana, 563
22. Texas Tech, 573
23. Texas State, 685
24. UTRGV, 705
25. North Texas, 735
26. Houston Christian, 749
27. Richmond, 755
28. Baylor, 755
29. UIW, 760
30. App State, 789
31. Rice, 887
32. McNeese, 893
33. Odessa, 902
34. Lamar, 917
35. UTSA, 919
36. Harding, 970
37. LSU New Orleans, 981
38. FIU, 1000
39. Oklahoma City, 1036
40. Tarleton State, 1037
41. ULM, 1099
42. UTEP, 1127
43. Sam Houston, 1185
44. Abilene Christian, 1207
45. Nicholls, 1276
46. Henderson State, 1405
 
Men's Team Standings
1. Adams State, 42 points
2. App State, 144
3. Houston, 173
4. San Francisco, 180
5. Texas A&M, 192
6. Arizona State, 203
7. Cal Poly, 238
8. UIW, 314
9. Ohio State, 315
10. TCU, 328
11. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 341
12. Odessa, 359
13. McNeese, 372
14. Youngstown State, 381
15. UTEP, 402
16. Texas, 416
17. Harding, 444
18. North Texas, 474
19. New Mexico State, 507
20. Texas State, 564
21. Rice, 566
22. UT Arlington, 572
23. Lamar, 620
24. Oklahoma City, 636
25. ULM, 645
26. UTSA, 658
27. Richmond, 772
28. Abilene Christian, 796
29. Baylor, 814
30. Sam Houston, 832
31. Tarleton State, 864
32. Houston Christian, 894
33. Louisiana, 933
34. Texas Southern, 938
35. LSU, 1012
36. UTRGV, 1070
37. LSU New Orleans, 1143
38. Nicholls, 1203
  
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