Running during the peak of heavy rain showers, the UTSA Roadrunners managed to take second place in both the men’s and women’s 5,000-meter events at the UTSA Ricardo Romo Classic.

The only cross country team that was able to beat the Roadrunners was the Texas Longhorns, who swept both events.

The race was held at the National Shooting Complex, which had become completely soaked over the course of the day from heavy rains.

Despite some early concerns of postponement, no lightning was present around race time which allowed the events to continue as planned.

The Roadrunners women’s team was led by senior Nina Herrera who finished second overall in the 5,000-meter race with a time of 17:56.6, and the men’s team was paced by junior Mike Medrano who took second place with a time of 15:50.4.

The heaviest rains of the day began about three minutes into the men’s race, setting up for some dramatic images on the course’s muddy final straight away that led to the finish line.

The Roadrunners men’s team also had two other top 10 finishers, Tony Jaramillo (9th, 16:32.1) and Javier Salas (10th, 16:36.6).

The women’s team secured the third spot with Samantha Fish clocking in at 18:14.9. Sophomore Emily Perez was fourth at 18:23.9.

It was a narrow defeat but the UT Austin women — led by Megan Siebert with a top time of 17:45.9 — just six second better than the Roadrunners leader.

UTSA had 46 team points on the day for a second place team finish.

The UTSA cross country teams will next be in action on Friday, Sept. 27 at the Texas Invitational in Austin, TX.