COLLEGE STATE, Texas -- The University of the Incarnate Word Cross Country programs got a small taste of what to expect from postseason competition at the regular-season finale on Friday morning.

Running at the Arturo Barrios Invitational, hosted by Texas A&M, the Cardinal men took an impressive eighth-place finish in a 49-team field, while the women placed 29th out of 49.

Aside from going up against numerous teams from power conferences, UIW also squared off with seven of its Southland Conference foes leading up to the SLC Championships. The men had the best showing of a Southland team, while the women were fourth.

MEN'S RESULTS

The Cardinals finished with 314 points, one point better than ninth-place Ohio State. They recorded a total time of 2:00:45.90 and an average of 24:08.88.

Christian Castro-Cruz continued his strong season with a run of 23:47.7 to place 34th in the 379-man field. Castro-Cruz was second-best finisher from the SLC, just two spots behind Mathayo Bundotich of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (23:46.8).

Second on the team was Ethan Malesich, who was 67th in 24:09.4. Just behind him in 73rd was Jeremiah Garcia, who ran a 24:11.3

Rounding out the scoring was Anthony Zapata in 81st (24:17.6) and Jared Laverty in 85th (24:19.9).



WOMEN'S RESULTS

Oceane Cercueil and Emily Torres were the top runners, crossing the finish line just over a second apart. Cercueil was 130th out of 389-runner field in 21:19.1, while Torres was 131st in 21:20.3.

Elsewhere, Sofia Cantor was 140th in 21:23.7, Alyssa Laspada was 188th in 21:45.1 and Marie Vazeilles was 223rd in 22:04.7.

Postseason competition begins in two weeks, as the Cardinals will travel to Lake Charles, La. for the Southland Conference Championships on Oct. 30.