The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Wisconsin Invitational
Cross Country competes at Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational
09.28.2018 | Track & Field / Cross Country
Destiny Collins paced the women while Sam Worley led the men.
Results: Men's Invite | Men's Open | Women's Invite | Women's Open
MADISON, Wisc. - The University of Texas Cross Country programs were in action on Friday at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, competing against some of the premier teams and competitors in the country on the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course, site of the 2018 NCAA Cross Country Championships in November.
Running a 6k for the first time this season, junior Destiny Collins paced the Longhorn women with a time of 20:34.9. She finished 39th overall. Collins was followed by senior Alex Cruz, who ran a time of 21:37.5. Abby Guidry, Meghan Lloyd and Madeline Vondra rounded out the top five for the UT women, all finishing in under 22 minutes. The Longhorns finished 23rd overall, and third out of five Big 12 programs competing. Olivia Thompson and Gabby Crank also competed for the Longhorns in the championship race, while Jordan Welborn, Claudine Blancaflor and Anna Norman all competed in the women's open race.
"Today was all about gaining experience and competing against some of the top runners and top programs in the country," women's cross country coach PattiSue Plumer said. "After today, we have a good understanding as to what we need to work on in the next seven weeks in order to be prepared to run this course again at NCAA Championships."
Running an 8k for the first time this season, six of the Longhorns' seven runners made their season debut. Despite finishing 22nd, two Longhorns finished in the top 100 and four finished in the top 115. Sophomore Sam Worley paced the men with a 24:16.1 to finish 70th, while senior Alex Rogers was right behind him running a 24:21.9. Juniors John Rice (24:29.9) and Garek Bielaczyc (24:34.0) were right on their heels. Jake Johnson, Charles Mills and Dan Golden also competed for the Longhorns.
"Six of our men made their season debuts today, so it was important for them to get on the NCAA Championships course," men's cross country coach Pete Watson said. "We obviously are a little disappointed with the result, but we took away some valuable lessons on how the course runs. This team has a lot of potential and we just need to be more aggressive early in races to establish position, rather than be stuck in the back."
A select group of Longhorn women who did not travel to Wisconsin will compete Saturday morning at the Concordia Invitational. Both squads will be back in action on Oct. 13 at the Texas A&M Invitational.
Players Mentioned
