The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Penn State Open
Raines rebounds from illness at Penn State Open
10.14.2016 | Track & Field / Cross Country
Senior leads women to 5th-place finish, takes 6th individually
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Texas Cross Country came into this weekend's Penn State National Open looking to improve on its last time on the trail and take a steam of momentum into the postseason. The Longhorns came away with strong showings from both the men and the women taking fifth place in each race and seeing key individuals step up on Friday morning.
Senior Sandie Raines missed the Notre Dame Invitational due to illness and she responded with her best race of the season, taking sixth place in a field full of top runners. She crossed the line in 20:28.1 over the 6,000 meters to prove she is healthy and set the tone heading into the Big 12 Championship in two weeks.
"Sandie had a solid performance," said Coach Brad Herbster. "As a unit we probably got out a little quick on a course full of hills, but I liked the fight our women had."
With Raines leading the way for the Longhorns the women took fifth place as a team with the four teams ahead in the standings all being ranked in the Top 30 in the latest USTFCCCA Coaches Poll. The Longhorn women also managed to knock off two teams receiving votes in the polls.
Host Penn State came in ranked No. 8 in the nation and won the women's team competition with its top three runners finishing 1-2-3 like the Longhorns did in their home meet to dominate the team scoring. Texas was fifth overall on Friday and only two points behind No. 30 West Virginia with the Mountaineers scoring 145 points to show the Longhorns are poised for Big 12's. Oklahoma State's women finished third with 114 points and were ranked No. 14 in the nation.
For the men, Robert Uhr and Alex Rogers stormed out of the box from the start and pulled away from the rest of the field early. The pair of Longhorns ran side by side for the first half of the race with a sizable gap between them and the chase pack. That pack would catch up over the final have of the race, however, and Uhr would finish in 19th place and Rogers was 27th. Connor Hendrickson was in the chase pack and took 26th.
With a trio of Longhorns in the top 30 the men's team finished fifth overall, also with the only teams ahead of them coming in as ranked opponents.
"Alex and Robert were leading the race by 10 meters at the 3-mile mark and then faded on the hills, but their fight and grit was impressive," Herbster said. "Connor put together a nice race and ran well and then Pedro Nasta and Eric Kroon closed it out well for us."
Oklahoma State claimed the men's team title by just two points over No. 10 Ole Miss.
Today was much improved from Notre Dame for both the men and women," Herbster said. "This was a good step in the right direction as a group, but we need to continue to improve over the next two weeks to be ready for Big 12's."
Texas returns to action in two weeks when the Longhorns will take on their conference rivals at the Big 12 Conference Championship in Lubbock, Texas. Action from The Rawls Course is set for the morning of Saturday, Oct. 29. Oklahoma State is the defending champion for both the men and women.
Penn State National Open Team Scores (Top 10)
Place: Team (ranking), pts
Women
1: Penn State (8), 47)
2: Ole Miss (25), 94
3: Oklahoma State (14), 114
4: West Virginia (30), 145
5: Texas, 147
6: Cornell (RV), 172
7: Wyoming, 199
8: William and Mary (RV), 221
9: Bucknell, 223
10: Pittsburgh, 233
Men
1: Oklahoma State (9), 47
2: Ole Miss (10), 49
3: Virginia (19), 78
4: Virginia Tech (28), 125
5: Texas (RV), 161
6: Penn State, 206
7: William and Mary, 221
8: Pittsburgh, 227
9: Charlotte, 240
10: Duquesne, 250
Texas Individuals
Place: Name, Time (pts)
Women
6: Sandie Raines, 20:28.1 (6)
26: Meghan Lloyd, 20:55.1 (24)
35: Abby Guidry, 21:06.2 (33)
37: Destiny Collins, 21:07.2 (35)
51: Mary Beth Hamilton, 21:20.2 (49)
54: Alex Cruz, 21:23.5 (n/a)
101: Marissa Flournoy, 21:57.6 (n/a)
115: Abigail Hirst, 22:06.9 (n/a)
137: Skyler Bollinger, 22:16.4 (n/a)
185: Katie Ruhala, 22:59.8 (n/a)
Men
19: Robert Uhr, 25:29.4 (19)
26: Connor Hendrickson, 25:33.9 (26)
27: Alex Rogers, 25:34.7 (27)
42: Pedro Nasta, 25:51.2 (42)
47: Eric Kroon, 25:56.3 (47)
51: Spencer Dodds, 25:58.5 (n/a)
54: John Rice, 26:01.7 (n/a)
75: Nate Moore, 26:18.4 (n/a)
80: Charles Mills, 26:25.6 (n/a)
111: Garek Bielaczyc, 26:53.0 (n/a)
Players Mentioned
