The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas Invitational
Cross Country captures Texas Invitational titles
09.13.2019 | Track & Field / Cross Country
The Longhorns swept the team and individual medals in Round Rock on Friday.
ROUND ROCK, Texas – The University of Texas Men's and Women's Cross Country teams continued their seasons on Friday with dominating performances in the Texas Invitational, capturing their respective team and individual medals. The Longhorns claimed the top 15 places in the Women's 5K, while the Longhorn Men had the top nine finishers in the Men's 5K.
UT won the men's race with its second-straight 15-point outing. The Horns also posted a perfect score at the Bear Twilight Invitational on Aug. 30.
Freshman Haftu Knight won the Texas Invitational individual medal with a 15:01.15 mark in his second collegiate race. Jake Johnson, Cruz Gomez, Brendan Hebert, Kobe Yepez (unattached), Sean Prendeville, Evan Williams (unattached), Dan Golden and Connor O'Neill all also turned in times under 16 minutes on Friday.
"I think it went well," said Texas men's distance coach Pete Watson. "We got what I wanted out of it. I wanted the young boys to run together early and just race each other for the last mile. I've got a good group of competitive young men who don't like to finish behind their teammates, so we had a bit of fun at the end."
In the women's race, Destiny Collins won the individual medal for the second time in as many tries this season, as her 17:34.94 effort was nearly 12 seconds faster than second place. Kathryn Gillespie, the second-place finisher, along with Beth Ramos and Isabel Hebner all also finished in under 18 minutes.
Eighteen of the top 20 finishers in the Women's 5K were UT student-athletes.
"I thought it went rather well," said Texas women's distance coach PattiSue Plumer, "Especially considering the temperature at the start of the race. A few of the girls on the team have never run in weather like this. So, given the fact that they followed the race plan and executed really well—I'm really happy about that."
Both Texas Cross Country teams return to competition in two weeks, when they compete in the Concordia Cross Country Classic on Sept. 27. The Concordia Classic will also be held at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock. That same weekend, UT is also slated to race in the Bill Dellinger Invitational, which will take place on Sept. 28 in Springfield, Ore.
Players Mentioned
