Men's Cross Country finishes 7th at Pre-Nats

Saturday, October 14

Louisville, Ky.

9:00 a.m.

University of Texas

Pre-Nationals Invitational

10.14.2017 | Track & Field / Cross Country

Longhorns shine against nation's best

Results

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Texas Cross Country showed its men's team could be a factor come championship season later this month and into November as the Longhorns finished seventh at the Pre-Nationals Invitational on Saturday morning.

With a field that included four Top 10 teams and eight ranked overall, the Longhorns ran with the leaders and came away with a performance that made a statement.

"Our men were able to beat some teams that could end up finishing in the top 10 at NCAAs later this season, but we fell short of others" said Cross Country Coach Brad Herbster. "Same Worley and Alex Rogers did a nice job of working together and John Rice ran a complete race for us."

Finishing seventh with 317 points as a team is a big improvement from the last time Pre-Nats were held at Louisville when the Texas men finished in 16^th with 484 points. This time around the Longhorns executed well with the pack in Burnt Orange much closer to the front from the start and keeping pace.

The Texas men also finished ahead of some top ranked teams. No. 5 Arkansas was nearly 60 points behind the Longhorns in ninth place.

Freshman Sam Worley and junior Alex Rogers led the way for the men's team with each finishing in the top 40 overall. The former high school teammates pushed Texas to finish among some of the best teams in the country.

Worley crossed 31^stwith a time of 23:44.76 for his first 8,000 meters race. Rogers was just four seconds behind at 23:48.70 to finish in 39^th. Redshirt sophomore John Rice was the No. 3 runner for Texas on Saturday finishing in 57^th with Eric Kroon taking 82^nd and Garek Bielaczyc finishing 117^th. Each runner crept up the field after each checkpoint to cut into the score along the way for Texas.

Herbster said some injuries and illness kept some Longhorns from performing up to par and another had their shoe kicked off, leading the team to only finish five runners in the seeded Red race. Even with those missteps, Texas still is in position to make some noise during the championship season if the Longhorns can put in the necessary work over the next two weeks.

"We are needing to improve a few things to get ready for the Big 12 Championship," Herbster said. "Championship season starts today and we need to tighten things up and execute as a group."

For the women, sophomore Destiny Collins again was the top finisher crossing the line in 75^th place overall. She clocked a time of 20:58.5 over the 6,000 meters, the first time this season the women have run their championship distance.

Herbster said Collins ran well but the women's team needs to pack in tighter to lower the team scoring.

"Destiny put herself up front and competed hard," Herbster said. "We have two weeks to correct things and get ready for Big 12s. We have the personnel on the women's side but need to race the way we practice."

Following the seeded Red races, Louisville hosted unseeded Black races for other runners who did not compete in the earlier Red races.

In those races, Texas saw a strong showing from Dan Golden. The sophomore finished 39^th overall with a time of 25:03.6. The top women's finisher in the Black race was Abby Brudnick.

Texas now turns its attention to the championship portion of its season. The Longhorns will host the Big 12 Cross Country Championship on Saturday, October 28 at Round Rock's Old Settlers Park.

Pre-Nationals Invitational Team Scores (Top 10 + Texas)
Finish: Team (USTFCCCA ranking) – pts

Men's Red 8K
1: BYU (2) – 41
2: Colorado (7) – 118 pts
3: Oregon (8) – 129
4: Virginia Tech (12) – 148
5: Ole Miss (24) – 193
6: Utah State (27) – 312
7: Texas (rv) – 317
8: Campbell (rv) – 340
9: Arkansas (5) – 374
10: Liberty – 383

Women's Red 6K
1: Oregon (8) – 63
2: Colorado (1) – 91
3: Arkansas (9) – 148
4: Utah State (19) – 214
5: Michigan (4) – 235
6: Georgia (25) – 236
7: BYU (16) – 273
8: Eastern Kentucky (rv) – 299
9: Ole Miss (12) – 360
10: Northern Arizona (rv) – 387
26: Texas (rv) – 676

Texas Individual Results
Place: Name (pts), time

Men's Red 8K
31: Sam Worley (30), 23:44.8
39: Alex Rogers (38), 23:48.7
57: John Rice (55), 24:07.9
82: Eric Kroon (80), 24:21.3
117: Garek Bielaczyc (114), 24:35.8

Women's Red 6K
75: Destiny Collins (73), 20:58.5
101: Abby Guidry (99), 21:12.3
132: Alex Cruz (129), 21:29.8
188: Meghan Lloyd (185), 22:02.2
194: Abigail Hirst (191), 22:06.7
257: Olivia Thompson, 23:03.6