RESULTS | SATURDAY'S HEAT SHEETS | SCHEDULE
HOUSTON - The Texas A&M - Corpus Christi men's and women's track teams qualified 16 distance runners to the Southland Conference Outdoor Championships Friday at the 30th Annual Victor Lopez Classic, hosted by Rice University. The Islanders will continue with the two-day event tomorrow at Holloway Field/Ley Track.
"We had a fabulous day," Director of Track and Field Shawn Flanagan said. "We qualified everyone in the 5k on both teams. We were ready to run fast."
In the 1500m, Jasmine Boutte and Valentinas Rudys both qualified. Rudys garnered the top spot in his heat to move into sixth place in the Islanders books with a time of 3:55.98. Boutte also qualified while moving into the seventh spot in the Islanders books with a personal-best time of 4:41.22 to finish fifth. Brandon Lacy and Julia Sambu both placed 11th.
Both teams qualified all runners in the 5000m to the conference meet. On the women's side, BreAnna Briggs, Cecilia Gonzalez and Shelby Polasek all hit the qualifying marks. Briggs led the way in eighth place with a time of 17:49.41 and Gonzalez placed one spot behind in ninth, clocking a time of 17:51.30. Polasek finished with a time of 18:41.46 in 17th place.
On the men's side, all six runners advanced with Justin Adame clocking a personal-best to move into seventh place in the Islanders books. Adame paced the group with a time of 14:56.14 to place ninth while freshman Philipp Baar clocked a personal-best time of 15:06.69 to place just outside the top 10 in 13th place. The next Islander to finish was Daniel Barlow with a time of 15:14.26 and Paul Hansel finished two spots behind Barlow with a personal-best time of 15:16.78. Adrian Marquez and Jacob Abrego rounded out the Islanders. Marquez finished with a time of 15:14.26 and Abrego crossed the line with a personal-best 15:26.52.
The Islanders finished the day in the 10k. On the women's side, freshmen Vanessa Galindo, Alexandria Rossi and Jennifer Ramirez all qualified and recorded personal-best times. Galindo placed third with a time of 37:26.12 to move into fourth place in the Islanders records. Ramirez finished in ninth place with a time of 40:12.85 to place seventh in the Islanders books and Rossi crossed the line with a time of 41:05.63 to place 12th.
Freshman Angel Banda and sophomore Jason Garcia both qualified in the men's 10k, finishing third and fourth, respectively. Banda clocked a personal-best time of 32:01.49 to finish in third place and move into fourth place in the Islanders record book. Garcia came from behind to clock a personal-best time of 32:14.84 to place fourth and mark a fifth-place spot in the Islanders books.
"It was a very satisfying day and hopefully tomorrow will be just as fun," Flanagan said.
The Islanders will begin events tomorrow at 12:40 p.m. with the 400m.
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