The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Women's Cross Country preview: Ricardo Romo Texas Classic
09.16.2010 | XC: Women_Old, Track & Field / Cross Country
Sept. 16, 2010
Meet Info
What: Ricard Romo/Six Flags Texas Classic
When: Friday, Sept. 17, 2010
Race Time: 6:00 p.m. Central
Venue: Brooks City-Base, San Antonio, Texas
Course Distance:5K
-After posting a perfect team score of 15 at the Johnny Morris UH Invitational last week in Houston, the Texas Women's Cross Country team travels to San Antonio this Friday, Sept. 17, for the Ricardo Romo/Six Flags Fiesta Texas Classic. The 5K race is set to begin at 6:00 p.m. Central and will be held at Brooks City-Base in South San Antonio.
-In Houston last week, the Longhorns placed six runners in the top seven and all nine in the top 20. Junior Mia Behm took the individual title in the 3,200m race, clocking in at 10:52.75. Behm was followed by freshman Megan Siebert (second, 11:06.49), junior Julie Amthor (third, 11:16.20), freshman Sara Sutherland (fourth, 11:17.40) and junior Ginny Simon (fifth, 11:18.46) to round out the top five for a perfect team score for Texas.
-Running for UT at Friday's meet will be seniors Jordan Clark-Mand, Christina Henderson, Allison Mendez and Megan Vasquez, juniors Julie Amthor, Mia Behm and Ginny Simon, sophomores Heather Canizales and Laleh Mojtabaeezamani and freshmen Marielle Hall, Brittany Marches, Megan Siebert and Sara Sutherland.
-The Longhorns have shown great early-season success under the guidance of fifth-year coach Steve Sisson, taking home the team title in the season-opening meet in each of the last six years. The Longhorns built off of that success in 2009, winning the first three meets the season. After tallying 16 points at the Texas State Invitational last year, the Longhorns followed up with totals of 28 and 15 points at the Islander Splash and Incarnate Word Invitational, respectively.
-UT hopes to capitalize on experience gained last season, including a strong showing at the NCAA South Central Region Championships where senior Betzy Jimenez and now junior Mia Behm individually qualified for the 2009 NCAA Cross Championships. The pair marked the first Longhorns to advance to the national meet since 2003. Despite the loss of Jimenez, Texas returns Behm along with senior Allison Mendez, who won two individual titles in 2009 and redshirt sophomore Laleh Mojtabaeezamani.
-Texas has also added an impressive freshman class to its roster that will look to make an impact in 2010, highlighted by Marielle Hall out of Haddonfield, N.J. Hall, who finished 18th at the 2009 Foot Locker XC Nationals, will be joined by a group of Texas runners in Megan Siebert (Dallas, Texas), Sara Sutherland (Dallas, Texas), Jessica Harper (Southlake, Texas) and Jourdan Ellis (Abilene, Texas).
-The Longhorns will train for a month before splitting the squad on Oct. 16 to run in both the Concordia University Invite in Round Rock, Texas, and the ISU Pre-Nationals Invite in Terre Haute, Ind.