11/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
By Drew Harris | UTAMavs.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - UT Arlington's historic cross country season came to an end on Saturday afternoon as Michael Guerrero and Craig Lautenslager competed as individuals at the 2016 NCAA Championships.
Lautenslager, a senior who still has outdoor track eligibility remaining, closed his cross country career with a 175th-place showing in the 10k race at Indiana State University's LaVern Gibson Championship Course. He posted a time of 31:24.7.
Guerrero, a junior, crossed the line in 245th place with a clocking of 33:09.5. The field consisted of 251 runners from 31 qualifying teams as well as 38 individual participants.
"Craig and Michael have played huge roles in putting our distance program on the national map," UTA coach John Sauerhage said. "This was a special experience for them, and our program will look to build on this in the years to come."
It was the first time since 1998 that the UT Arlington men's cross country team was represented at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. The Mavericks have now had five NCAA participants in its history--Mark Newland (1977), Ben Melly (1987), Henrik Skoog (1998), Guerrero (2016) and Lautenslager (2016).
Both runners earned spots in the field after netting top-10 placements at the NCAA South Central Regional. Lautenslager took eighth and Guerrero was ninth a week ago in Fayetteville, Ark.
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