University of Texas Arlington
UTA Season Opener/Gerald Richey High School Invitational
XC: Men cruise to victory at UTA Season Opener
9/13/2014 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
University/College Results Full Results: (University/College/High School)
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - UT Arlington claimed the top two and six of the first eight spots en route to a convincing men's team title Saturday at the UTA Season Opener held at Lynn Creek Park. The individual winner was Maverick junior Craig Lautenslager.
UTA finished with a total of 19 points to easily defeat Baylor (42), North Texas (77) and TCU (105) in the four-team race.
Lautenslager navigated the 5k course in 14:56.5 to edge teammate Emil Blomberg (14:57.5) by exactly one second. Both men were competing in their first races of the season after electing not to run at the Bear Twilight Invitational two weeks ago.
The win was Lautenslager's first at a collegiate meet. His previous best was a runner-up showing at last year's Sun Belt Conference Championships.
Grant Copeland also turned in a very strong performance, placing fourth in 15:12.8. It was the best career finish for the sophomore.
Three more UTA runners followed Copeland to the line. Virgilio Martinez placed fifth in 15:14.0, while Michael Guerrero was seventh ( 15:17.0) and Eric Ojeda eighth (15:20.6).
"It was important that all of our top guys get at least one meet under their belts before we go to the Griak Invitational (Sept. 27)," UTA coach John Sauerhage said. "The shorter race gave us a chance to get some good speed work in and hopefully will help us run better in Minnesota. I'm very optimistic with the way we're coming together."
On the women's side, the Mavericks placed fourth among five teams with 79 points. SMU (30) claimed the team crown ahead of Baylor (56) and TCU (61).
Hannah Nilsson recorded a runner-up finish among contestants from university schools (third overall) with a clocking of 17:15.2. UTA's second runner was Katelyn Hayward, who crossed in fourth with a time of 17:20.2.
In addition, Gabriela Alfonzo came in 18th in 19:04.4, while Tamerah Gorham placed 27th in 19:41.3. The final UTA point scorer was Tori Shelton (28th, 19:51.9).
"I was really excited to see how Hannah and Katelyn ran," Sauerhage said. "They look strong and have shown they compete with the top runners in the league. We've still got work to do as a team, but we'll keep pushing forward."
Full results of the university, college and high school races may be found at www.run-far.com. More than 1,000 runners across the various divisions competed Saturday morning.
Men's Results
1 UT Arlington 19
2 Baylor 42
3 North Texas 77
4 TCU 105
Women's Results
1. SMU 30
2. Baylor 56
3. TCU 61
4. UT Arlington 79
5. North Texas 122
