COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- The University of the Incarnate Word men's cross country team had a high-qualify end to its season with a sixth-place finish at the South Central Regional Championships, hosted by Texas A&M Friday morning.

The Cardinals finished with 213 points at the 10K event, accumulating a total time of 2:36:24.5 and an average of 31:16.9. Tulane won with 44 points, narrowly topping the 48 of Arkansas, which had the top-two runners in Nick Busienei (28.57.1) and Ernest Cheruitoy (29:02.4).

Southland Conference champion Stephen F. Austin was third with 104 points.

Leading the charge for UIW was Christian Castro-Cruz, who ran a 31:02.1 to finish 34th.

Three more Cardinals were in the top-50, with one other landing one spot on the outside. Jared Laverty was 41st in 31:11.0, James Butler was 47th in 31:21.1, Diego Romero was 49th in 31:23.4 and Jeremiah Garcia was 51st in 31:26.9.

Other finishers were Anthony Zapata in 59th (31:33.2) and Ethan Malesich in 62nd (31.38.4).

Following a disappointing fourth-place showing at the Southland Conference Championships, the Cardinals recorded the third-fasted 10k time in program history. 

Their 25-second time gap between UIW runners 1-5 and 30-second gap between 1-7 were both the smallest in the field, with only two other teams having gaps of less than a minute.

"Team counted them out after conference and they met the challenge and showed the grit they are known for," UIW coach Derek Riedel said after the race.