COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Philipp Baar ran the best cross country race of his career Saturday
at the Texas A&M Invitational as he led the men to a sixth place overall finish. Liz Romo led the women as they finished eighth.
Baar, a senior, led the Islanders and nearly took the top-spot in the Invitational as he finished the 6k in third-place out of 122 runners with a career-best time of 18:24.8, just seven seconds behind first-place. The Schwerin, Germany native finished 20 seconds ahead of fellow Southland runner Jan Lukas Becker of Lamar.
"Phillip looked really good today. He ran one of the best races I've seen him run in his time here," said head coach Shawn Flanagan.
Outside of Baar, sophomore Cesar Gonzalez finished the event 40th overall with a time of 19:28. Seniors Valentinas Rudys (19:30.4) and Jason Garcia (19:39) followed close behind finishing 42nd and 48th, respectively. Freshman Logan Pittdman finished 49th (19:39.8) and Steven Galli (19:41.5) took 51st.
The Islander women were plagued by injuries and illnesses heading into the event. Romo led the women as she finished 44th overall with a time of 15:37. She was followed by Regina Salinas who finished 50th (15:43.4) while Carissa Pinon came in 58th, posting a time of 15:52.3.
"On the women's side, we had a lot of problems. We had several runners sick and a girl injured during warmups. The ones that were able to finish did a good job for us," Flanagan said. "That is why you run these races. We are going to learn from this and we're going to have a full set of runners next time and I think we will have a lot better results."
The Islanders will return to action next weekend when they host their annual Islanders Splash. The college race will take place Friday at 6 p.m. at West Guth Park while the High School and Middle School race will take place on Saturday beginning at 8 a.m. For more information on Saturday's event click HERE.
For the latest information, follow Islanders Cross Country on Twitter and Instagram (@IslandersTFXC) and Facebook (Texas A&M Corpus Christi Track & Field/Cross Country).
Men's Results (6k)
Place Name Time
3 Philipp Baar 18:24.8
40 Cesar Gonzalez 19:28.0
42 Valentinas Rudys 19:30.4
48 Jason Garcia 19:39.0
49 Logan Pittdman 19:39.8
51 Steven Galli 19:41.5
66 Justin Adame 19:53.3
68 Jordan Wright 19:54.4
83 Steve Medlin 20:13.9
95 Edgar Martinez 20:36.0
Women's Results (4k)
Place Name Time
44 Liz Romo 15:37.4
50 Regina Salinas 15:43.7
58 Carissa Pinon 15:52.3
75 Shelby Polasek 16:21.5
86 Alexandria Rossi16:40.2
91 Samantha Hardin16:56.5
Team Scores – Men
1. Texas A&M, 54
2. Lamar, 56
3. Stephen F. Austin, 84
4. Texas Tech, 95
5. Baylor, 104
6. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 164
7. Central Arkansas, 180
8. Texas State, 210
9. Sam Houston, 262
10. Houston Baptist, 278
11. Texas-Pan American, 284
Team Scores – Women
1. Lamar, 45
2. Baylor, 57
3. Texas A&M, 71
4. Stephen F. Austin, 87
5. Texas Tech, 104
6. Sam Houston, 153
7. Texas State, 219
8. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 232
9. Houston Baptist, 255
10. Texas-Pan American, 289
COMPLETE RESULTS
