HOUSTON, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word women's cross country team was outstanding at the 40
th Annual Rice Invitational on Friday night coming in second place while the men were solid with a sixth place showing. (
Results)
The UIW women were runner-ups to host Rice in the 11-team invitational. The course was set at an unusual distance of 3800 meters, a little under 2.5 miles. Rice won the meet with 52 points while the Cardinals had 99. Houston and Lousiana-Lafayette followed closely with 109 points apiece.
Senior
Rainy Castaneda (Laredo/United South HS) led the Cardinals for the second straight meet with a time of 16:45.66 to put her in sixth place. Right behind her was freshman Danielle Martinez (New Braunfels/Canyon HS) who finished in seventh place with a time of 16:56.39. There was a gap of almost a minute before
Kathleen Hoffman (San Antonio/SACS) sprinted across the line in 26
th place.
"I'm really proud of the women's effort," said UIW head coach
Derek Riedel. "They ran with resolve and weren't intimidated by the poor conditions. We talked before the race about being aggressive and not worrying about time. They did just that and it was a big relief to see them run so well. We still need to close our 1-5 gap, but that will come soon."
The rest of the standings in the women's race had Lamar in fifth place with 115 points and they were followed by UT Rio Grande Valley (124), Texas State (146), Houston Baptist (179), Texas A&M-International (219), Prairie View A&M (308) and Texas Southern (330). The individual champion was Rice's Cali Roper who ran a time of 15:56.60.
The UIW men did not fare quite as well as the women and finished in the middle of the pack with 143 points. Lamar won the men's title with 41 points after putting four runners in the top 12. Houston was second with 71 points while McNeese State (93), Texas State (108) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (129) all finished ahead of the Cardinals.
UIW freshman
Garett Cortez (Schertz/Steele HS) was once again the top runner on the team covering the 5500-meter course in 19:12.80 for 17
th place overall. Senior
Mario Mora (Converse/Wagner HS) followed as the team's #2 runner in 28
th place with a time of 19:33.65.
"The men had a tough race," said Riedel. "We struggled with the condition of the course and didn't run our best. But, I feel
Adam Herrera and
Sam Farrell ran fantastic races with a lot of composure. We still finished sixth in a very competitive field while having an off day so we are pleased overall."
Herrera (Edinburg/Vela HS) and Farrell (Lufkin/Hudson HS) are a pair of freshmen and showed that it might be a class to build on for the Cardinals as they continue to team up with Cortez in the future. Herrera was 36
th in a time of 19:45.05 and Farrell was 39
th in 19:46.24.
Rice finished in seventh place behind the Cardinals with 151 points and they were followed by Louisiana-Lafayette (189), Houston Baptist (196), UT Rio Grande Valley (307), A&M-International (324), Texas Southern (342) and Prairie View A&M (345). Houston's Brian Barraza won by seven seconds in a time of 18:33.72.
The next meet for the Cardinals is not until September 26 when they travel to the University of Minnesota for the Roy Griak Invitational.
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