ARLINGTON, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi cross country team impressed once again at the Gerald Richey UTA Invitational on Friday morning, earning their first team victory of the season on the women's side and coming as close as possible to doing the same on the men's side.
Opening the day off were the women, who dominated the 5k to the tune of a 33-point performance, which was a whole 35 points clear of second-pace TCU's mark of 68. Sophomore
Elizabeth Khatevi led the charge for the group, with the reigning Southland Conference Women's Runner of the Week taking home her second straight individual victory to open the year by finishing with a time of 16:36.80 that broke her own school record in the event by nearly 10 whole seconds. The win marked Khatevi's third in a row when dating back to last year's Southland Conference Championships and her fourth in total for her young cross country career.
The Islanders had another pair of top five finishers helping to improve their score behind Khatevi as well, as sophomores
Phylis Kibet and
Alicia Finnis repeated their placements from last week's Cross Country at the Seashore meet by coming in third and fifth with times of 17:18.30 and 17:37.50. Finally, sophomores
Embla Hreimsdottir and
Sharon Jemeli capped off the rest of the scorers with times of 18:12.80 and 18:23.10, good for 11
th and 13
th in the 78-person field.
"Our women raced very well today," head coach
Bryan Jackson said. "They raced with great confidence and unity. I couldn't be more pleased with where they are at, but even more exciting is how much more we have in us."
The men's 5k followed soon after this race, where the Islanders nearly took home their second team win in as many weeks, recording 56 points to finish just one behind first-place UT Arlington's mark of 55. The team did see one of its own secure the individual championship for the meet, though, as sophomore
Kye Lowth picked up his first collegiate win after crossing the finish line with a time of 14:50.00. This made it back-to-back races with an individual winner to open the season for A&M-Corpus Christi after junior
Mathayo Bundotich did so at Cross Country at the Seashore last Friday.
After Lowth came a pair of familiar faces, as sophomores
Diego Canto and
Dillon Smith scored points for the second straight week by finishing in 10
th and 11
th with times of 15:17.90 and 15:18.20. Senior
Ewan Wheelwright made his way into the team's top five for the first time on the year by posting the same time as Smith's for a 12
th place finish, and sophomore
Dominic Kiptum rounded out the group in 23
rd with a time of 15:31.90.
"Despite coming up a bit short on the team win, we had a ton of positives," Jackson said. "The men faced their first true race of the season and competed very well. I couldn't be prouder of them, and I'm excited for Kye to get his first career win as an Islander."
The Islanders will now use the next three weeks to train up before returning to the track, with their next meet coming on September 26 at the Gans Creek Classic, hosted by the University of Missouri.
Women's Individual Times
1.
Elizabeth Khatevi: 16:36.80
3.
Phylis Kibet: 17:18.30
5.
Alicia Finnis: 17:37.50
11.
Embla Hreimsdottir: 18:12.80
13.
Sharon Jemeli: 18:23.10
15.
Neele Heyne: 18:29.40
16.
Micah Mizell: 18:29.50
37.
Abbey Coberly: 19:13.00
44.
Deandra Ibarra: 19:20.60
Men's Individual Times
1.
Kye Lowth: 14:50.00
10.
Diego Canto: 15:17.90
11.
Dillon Smith: 15:18.20
12.
Ewan Wheelwright: 15:18.20
23.
Dominic Kiptum: 15:31.90
31.
Andrew Rivas: 15:40.30
52.
Joseph Lopez: 16:06.40
60.
Gary Custer: 16:15.60
70.
Carson Brown: 16:35.60
74.
Philip Jensen e Castro: 16:42.80
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