DALLAS, Texas – The UTA women's cross country team was crowned the team champion at the Gerald Richey Invitational, while senior Justin Domangue took the men's individual title on Saturday morning at the Jesse Owens Memorial Athletic Complex in Dallas.
 
The Maverick women placed four inside the top 10, led by junior Madeleine Rowe. Rowe took fourth place with a strong 5k clocking of 18:35.4. UTA finished with 38 points to top North Texas (43) by three in the eight-team standings.
 
Freshman Mathilde Ruud placed sixth in 18:43.0, as she led a group of three Mavs to the line. Senior Shayla Huebner was seventh in 18:51.9, while sophomore Valeria Diaz was eighth (18:55.5). Freshman Sofia Santamaria was the final point scorer for UTA, as she took 13th in 19:18.5.
 
"I like the way they competed today. They competed and ran as a team today," UTA coach John Sauerhage said. "We have talent, and this is a good starting point. If we continue to work on getting better, I'm very optimistic that we will have a very competitive team."
 
Senior Justin Domangue won his second straight race title (third career), as he won North Texas' Ken Garland Invitational last Saturday. He completed the 5k circuit in 14:51.3.
 
"Justin is in good shape," Sauerhage said. "He needs the Arkansas meet (Chile Pepper Invitational on Oct. 5) to see where he is against the big boys. That meet will be a good measuring stick to see how both of our teams stack up."
 
In the men's race, Junior Cole Klashinsky placed third among college runners with a time of 15:14.1. Fellow junior Victor Bocanegra also claimed a top-10 showing in 15:35.7 (sixth).
 
Freshman Jack Myers (15:47.8) was ninth and Connor Butterfield claimed 10th (15:54.0) to round out the UTA scorers. The Mavericks finished with 29 points, three behind North Texas (26) in the five-team field.
 
The annual race was even more special for the program this season as Richey, the meet's namesake since 2013, passed away two weeks ago at the age of 83. Richey mentored Sauerhage as a track star at Arlington High School and later served as a Maverick assistant coach under his protege.
 
High school boys and girls races were contested following the college events with more than 1,500 runners competing from Class 1A-6A.

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