COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- The Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Cross Country team fought hard throughout Saturday morning's Arturo Barrios Invitational, but the combined weight of a few injuries on the men's side and a highly competitive 30-team field saw the Islanders close out a 16th-place finish for the women and 22nd for the men. In concert with the past two meets, senior
Allyson Girard continued to showcase her impact on the women's field, capturing an eighth-place individual finish, the highest between the two squads.
After two uneven performances to open the season, sophomore
Valentina Campos managed to slide into second on the squad (62nd overall) while the senior duo of
Cynthia Quiroga and
Samantha Miller placed 93rd and 107th, respectively. Junior
Morgan McCutchen rounded out the scoring runners at 117th.
Of the 15 squads to rank higher than the Islanders on the final leaderboard, none hailed from the Southland Conference, as Texas A&M-Corpus Christi outpaced McNeese State (18th), Stephen F. Austin (19th) and Sam Houston State (22nd).
On the men's side, a few unexpected injuries slowed down a usually potent Islander attack, as both junior
Oscar Leyva and senior Marek Spriesterbach were unable to compete. As such, sophomore
Isaac Vargas led the way for A&M-Corpus Christi, grabbing a 46th individual finish. Senior
Steven Galli crossed the finish line second for the team at 75th while a trio of freshmen --
Matthew Lara,
Juan Salinas III and
Andrew Gandy -- wrapped up the scoring at 141st, 149th and 162nd.
With no Leyva in competition, the Islanders were unable to outmatch three opposing Southland programs, as Stephen F. Austin finished 12th, McNeese State slid into 16th and Sam Houston State captured 20th.
The A&M-Corpus Christi cross country team moves into the postseason two weeks from now, traveling to Lake Charles, La., for the Southland Conference Championships.
For more information on Islanders Cross Country, follow the team on Twitter (
@IslandersTFXC), Instagram (
@IslandersTFXC) and like their Facebook page (
Islanders Track & Field/Cross Country).
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