The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas State Invitational
Miller, Men's Cross Country win Texas State Invitational title
09.08.2007 | XC: Men_Old, Track & Field / Cross Country
SAN MARCOS, Texas -- Texas junior Kyle Miller won the individual five-mile race and the Texas men's cross country team ran away with the team title at the 2007 Texas State Invitational at the Gary Jobs Corps Facility in San Marcos on Saturday (Sept. 8) morning.
Texas accumulated 33 points behind four top-10 individual finishes including Miller's race championship and redshirt freshman Habben Berhane's runner-up performance.
Miller (Katy, Texas), who finished first for UT for the second time this season, completed the wet and muddy course in 25 minutes, 36.43 seconds, ahead of Berhane's (Dallas, Texas) time of 25:59.87.
The next five runners for Texas crossed the line within a span of 20 seconds and posted consecutive individual finishes (No. 9 through No. 13). In his first collegiate race, newcomer Jay Heller (Marietta, Ga.) placed ninth overall and third among Texas runners in 27:14.67. Fellow freshman Robert Wetzel (Crofton, Md.) ran 27:21.52 for 10th-place; rookie Brock Simmons (Denton, Texas) clocked 27:28.96, garnering 10th-place. All-American 800-meter runner Jacob Hernandez (Magnolia, Texas) ran 27:33.80 for 12th place. Freshman Bradley Lowry (Arlington, Texas) rounded out the group with 13th place and a time of 27:34.37.
"I thought the freshmen did a great job of working together throughout the race," said associate head coach Jason Vigilante. "I was very pleased with their performance and how they made the transition to college in their first collegiate race."
Finishing behind the Longhorns in the team race were No. 2 UT-Pan American (64 points), No. 3 UT-San Antonio (96), No. 4 Trinity (116) and No. 5 McMurray (133).
The next race for the Longhorns is the Appalachian State (Blue Ridge Open) Invitational at the Don Kennedy Trails at the State Farm Fields in Boone, N.C. on Friday, Oct. 12.
Notes: Heller, Wetzel, Simmons and Lowry competed in burnt orange for the first time in their careers... The first-place finish marks the second consecutive week the Longhorns finished in the top two team races. At the Bear Invitational on Friday, Aug. 31, Texas tallied 57 points to place second behind first-place finisher Lamar (43 points)... With four runners in the top 10 Texas extends its 2007 season streak of multiple runners scoring in the top 10 to two meets. At the Bear Invite, the Longhorns placed three harriers among the top 10 runners.
