The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
NCAA South Central Regional
Knight and No. 14 Men's Cross Country Win NCAA Regionals
11.12.2021 | Track & Field / Cross Country
WACO, Texas – Haftu Knight and the No. 14 Texas men's cross country program earned an automatic team bid to the 2021 NCAA Cross Country Championships.
The Longhorns defended its 2019 title on Friday morning and outdid the No. 7 Arkansas Razorbacks by four points to take the win. This is the eighth straight time the two teams have gone one and two at this event.
"It was a very successful day for the team," men's distance coach Pete Watson said. "We knew we needed to be top-two to advance to the NCAA Championships, but we also wanted to defend our regional title and go into the NCAA Championships on a high note."
Knight won the men's 10K with his time of 30:10.4, the first time the Longhorns have competed in a 10K this season. Texas went on to post four Top 10 finishes with Rodger Rivera in third, Yaseen Abdalla just behind him and Cruz Gomez in ninth.
"Haftu bounced back nicely after a disappointing Big 12 race to win the individual title," Watson said. "All week he said he was going to win and he was good on his word."
The Longhorns will travel to Tallahassee, Fla., on Nov. 20 at the Apalachee Regional Park for the NCNAA Division I Cross Country Championships.
On the women's side, Beth Ramos continued her dominant season, posting yet another Top 10 finish for the Longhorns. Ramos finished the women's 6K with a time of 20:58.0 to finish seventh overall. Ramos has now been the top finisher for Texas in each race she's competed in this season.
Isabel Hebner was next to cross the finish line in 18th for Texas with her time of 21:21.5. Freshman Eva Jess added another solid performance at No. 25 with her time of 21:38.0. Alexa Rodriguez and Ava Peeples set personal-best times in the 6K at 21:40.4 and 21:41.4, respectively. Peeples time was a 15 second PB and rounded out the top 30 finishers for the Longhorns.
The women's team tallied 101 points, just five points behind second-place and the automatic team qualifying spot. Non-automatic qualifying teams will be decided on Sunday.
Texas totaled nine USTFCCCA All-Region team honors, finishing among the top 25 competitors. Six men and three women earned the feat.
Players Mentioned
