The Abilene Christian cross country teams\u00a0posted numerous personal best performances at the Gerald Richey UTA Invitational in Arlington on Friday morning.<\/p>\n
The meet, held at the Rolling Hills Soccer Complex, is named for Abilene Christian alumnus Gerald Richey, who was the Wildcats’ track and field manager in the mid-1950s.<\/p>\n
On Friday, the Wildcat men finished in a tie for 2nd in the meet and the women’s team finished the race in 4th place. Both the men and women had numerous personal bests over a fast 5K course.<\/p>\n
The Wildcat men had three runners finish in the top 10 out of a field of 73. Vincent Luffey<\/a> ran a personal best time of 14:48.6 to place 5th,\u00a0followed by Mark Barajas<\/a> in 6th place with a personal best time of 15:03.8\u00a0and Matthew Engle<\/a> in 7th place with a personal best time of 15:10.8. Austin Roberts<\/a> also ran a personal best time of 15:38.5 and ACU’s fifth finisher was Benjamin Castro<\/a> with a time of 15:48.9. Evan Martin<\/a> wrapped up the Wildcat finishers with a time of 16:41.57. UT Arlington won the men’s event with 27 points (the Mavericks are picked #2 in the UAC pre-season poll to ACU’s #5 pre-season pick). ACU tied Division II distance powerhouse Dallas Baptist\u00a0for 2nd in the team race with 50 points.<\/p>\n The ACU women finished in 4th place with 84 points, only 1 point out of 3rd place. DBU won the title with 32 points (the Patriots are picked #3 in the LSC preseason poll) and UTA, picked #2 in the UAC preseason poll like their men’s team, came in 2nd place as a team with 37 points. Almost all of the ACU women either ran a personal best time in the 5K or were running their first collegiate 5K XC \u2013 personal bests were turned in by the first ACU finisher, Saylor Stevenson<\/a> in 12th place in the time of 18:17.7; Hannah Kasper<\/a> in 14th place with a time of 18:25.1; and Sidney Windham<\/a> in 25th place in 19:05.8. Four runners ran their first collegiate XC 5K: #3 finisher Anna Vyn<\/a>, in 23rd place in 18:56.7; #5 finisher Emma Santoro<\/a>, in 30th place in 19:43.3; #6 finisher Madelyn McFadden<\/a>, in 31st place in19:45.8; and #8 finisher Hanna Zweibel, in a time of 21:12.7. Alyssa Quinones<\/a> also competed, finishing in 38th place with a time of 19:59.7.<\/p>\n The Wildcats are back in action on Saturday, Sept.\u00a026, as they travel to Stillwater, OK, to compete in one of the major cross country meets in the southwestern U.S. – the OSU Cowboy Jamboree.<\/p>\n