By Bradley Melchor
The UMHB Men’s and Women’s Cross-Country teams took part in the Stormy Seas Opener this morning, with the event being hosted by Southwestern University in Georgetown.
A 5,000-kilometer race, this event saw the Women’s teams pitted against the likes of the University of Texas, Prairie View A&M, Texas Lutheran University, Blinn College, Schreiner University, Concordia University, and Southwestern University. The Crusaders put on an impressive performance, finishing in second place with a team total of 74 points. Senior runner Pressley Wall led the way for the Cru, finishing with a team best time of 19:28.85, while freshmen runners Laurel Jarrott and Andrea Gibson finished directly behind her at 20:01.69 and 20:07.84 respectively. Junior runners Maiah Jackson and Mary Wittmer rounded out the UMHB top five, with Jackson finishing with a time of 21:39.26 and Wittmer finishing in 21:49.77.
Competing against the same pool of schools with a sole addition of St. Thomas University, the Men’s team finished seventh overall with a team total of 194 points. The Cru were led by senior Alfredo Lozano, who finished with a team best time of 17:28.95 and 39th overall individually, while junior Andrew Young also finished in the top 50 with a time of 17:39.03. Senior Shannen Newman finished just outside the top 50 as he came in 51st with a time of 17:56.01, with freshman Angel Calderon and sophomore Ryan Anderson rounding out the Cru’s top five with times of 18:07.94 and 18:10.74 respectively.
Both teams will compete next at the Schreiner University Meet in Kerrville on Sept.14, with the Men’s team competing in an 8K race at 8 a.m., while the Women’s team will run a 6K race at 9 a.m.
