FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The UTA men's and women's cross country teams had solid performances Saturday at the prestigious Chile Pepper Festival. It was the biggest challenge to date for the Mavericks, who have both teams ranked among the top 15 in the South Central Region.
At the huge Arkansas meet, the men placed 17th among 32 teams with 491 points, while the women took 16th out of 28 squads with a score of 470. The Agri Park site will also host the South Central Regional on Nov. 15, giving the Mavericks an important look at the regional course.
"Those results are solid," UTA coach John Sauerhage said. "Our teams were exposed to high level D-I competition and we will race even better soon. We will get back training hard and to get ready for the next meet."
Including No. 6 UTA, the men's race featured 10 of the top 15 teams in the latest South Central Region USTFCCCA coaches poll. The group also included: No. 1 Arkansas, No. 2 Texas, No. 4 Rice, No. 5 North Texas, No. 7 Lamar, No. 10 Texas State, No. 11 Baylor, No. 12 UTRGV and No. 13 Central Arkansas.
For the men, Justin Domangue finished 17th individually out of more than 300 runners. He completed the 8k circuit with a time of 24:19.3 and has led the team at all three meets in which he has competed.
Next across the line was Cole Klashinsky, who placed 115th with a time of 25:40.7. UTA's other point scorers were Marquentin Barnes (130th, 25:49.0), Connor Butterfield (114th, 25:58.6) and Jack Myers (154th, 26:10.0).
The women's side also featured star power, headlined by No. 2 nationally-ranked Arkansas. In addition, seven other regionally ranked teams competed, including No. 2 Texas, No. 5 Baylor, No. 7 Rice, No. 8 Incarnate Word, No. 13 Texas State and No. 14 UTRGV.
Madeleine Rowe was the top finisher for the women for the second straight race, as she placed 84th with a 5k clocking of 18:12.3. Mathilde Ruud was next down the chute in 106th position with a time of 18:30.3.
Valeria Diaz was the third runner for UTA, taking 118th in 18:35.6. The Mavs final two scorers were Ieshia Dickerson (137th, 18:46.8) and Shayla Huebner (139th, 18:47.6). In all, the Mavs had six runners break the 19:00 plateau, something that bodes well for the future..
The Mavs are next in action at Texas A&M's Arturo Barrios Invitational on Oct. 19. It is the final regular season meet of the year prior to the Sun Belt Conference Championships on Nov. 2.
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