On Saturday, Oct. 30, the UTSA cross country team traveled to Concord, NC to compete in the Conference USA Cross Country Championships. The men’s team, led by a 36th place finish by sophomore Jake Smith, came home eighth overall out of 11 teams. The women’s team, riding a strong 11th place performance from senior Madeline Boswell, finished 12th out of 13 teams.

In the men’s 8k, Smith enjoyed an overall very consistent performance. At the 3.2k split, Smith found himself in 38th place, but by the 5.5k mark he’d managed to move up three positions to 35th. Smith dropped one spot in the last 2.5k to come home in 36th place with a final time of 25:43.0. Following Smith was the freshman Luke Lawhorn, who finished in 52nd place with a time of 26:46.8. Freshman Idol Ramon continued the youth movement for UTSA, finishing 57th in 26:58.4. The pair of Hunter Haynes and JD Corona followed closely behind them with Haynes just edging out Corona for 61st with a time of 27:06.2, leaving Corona to settle for 62nd in 27:08.5. Michael Paredes came home in 72nd for the Roadrunners with a final time of 27:38.7. Finally, bringing up the rear for UTSA was Harrison Wade, who finished 80th in 28:39.8. 

The combined effort saw UTSA finish in eighth place in the team standings with 239 total points. This saw them fall just short of catching Louisiana Tech for seventh who finished with 237 total points, but this also allowed them to narrowly edge out Western Kentucky who finished in ninth with 241.

In the women’s 6k, Boswell led the way for UTSA. At the 1.6k mark Boswell sat in 15th position, but by the time the field had reached the 3.2k mark, she had risen seven spots into eighth place. By the 4.6k mark, she had slid back to 12th place. Boswell recovered from there though and in the final 1.4k she gained a position back and finished 11th in 21:34.6. Unfortunately for the rest of the team, Boswell did not have anyone else around her to support her strong effort. The next highest finishing ‘Runner was Chante Dixon, who came home in 63rd place in a time of 23:45.6. After Dixon came Lily Morill in 71st with a final time of 24:06.3. Brooke Veltman was next for the ‘Runners in 77th with a final time of 24:37.5. The pair of Joy Ojeda and Abby Balli followed closely behind in 80th and 81st respectively in times of 24:43.8 and 24:45.3. Savanah Alt came across the line next for UTSA in 85th with a time of 25:06.3 Finally, Sydney Bravo brought up the rear in 90th place in 25:50.4. 

Collectively, the ‘Runners finished in 12th place out of 13 teams with 285 total points. They finished 35 points back of North Texas for 11th, but were well clear of Louisiana Tech in last place with 399 points.

The cross country team will return to action on Friday, Nov. 12, in Waco, TX, for the NCAA South Central Regional.