BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – Competing against top regional and national competition in a loaded field on Saturday morning, the UT Arlington men's and women's cross country teams completed their 2022 regular season at Texas A&M's Arturo Barrios Invitational from Watts Cross Country Course.
 
The UTA men posted an 11th-place showing in the stacked field of 40 teams with 359 points, finishing ahead of the likes of TCU, Baylor, LSU, Houston and Vanderbilt. Additionally, the Mavericks were the highest-finishing Western Athletic Conference member in the field (Tarleton: 16th, Stephen F. Austin: 17th, Sam Houston: 22nd, UT Rio Grande Valley: 23rd and New Mexico State: 26th).
 
Texas A&M won the event with 71 points, and the Mavs were just seven points shy of a top-9 finish and 22 points back of finishing ahead of 7th-place Florida (338).
 
On the women's side, the Mavs registered a placement of 26th with 685 points, placing ahead of WAC competitors UTRGV (29th) and Tarleton (35th). Ohio State emerged victorious with 38 points – nearly 50 better than 2nd-place Lipscomb (87).
 
Junior Patrick Estes led the UTA men for the second-straight race as he crossed first for the Mavs in 24:47 flat – just over one second from setting a personal record (24:45.9) in the 8k.
 
Sophomore Alfredo Reina Corona was just behind Estes with a time of 24:55.3, followed by Rogelio Aguirre at 25:02.1. In another familiar refrain for UTA, Estes, Reina Corona and Aguirre have now each finished in the top-3 for the Mavs in all four meets this year.
 
Sophomore Jeriel Algarin-Marquez (25:12.6) and freshman Brian Guevara (25:33.2) rounded out the scorers for the men.
 
Running the 6k for the first time in her collegiate career, freshman Lauren Walls-Portillo made it a perfect 4-for-4 in leading UTA in races this year as the El Paso native clocked a time of 22:21.3. Senior Mathilde Ruud was right on her heels, crossing in 22:26.5 as the Norwegian broke her previous PR of 22:34.8 set at the 2021 edition of the Arturo Barrios Invite.
 
Sophomore Claire Compher finished 3rd for the Mavs as she delivered a time of 23:31.4 – just a couple seconds shy of her also establishing a PR (23:29.0). Freshman Krianne McBride (24:06.2) and classmate Rachael Hartly (24:09.7) capped the UTA scorers for the day. Fellow first-year runner Scarlett Johnson was UTA's other competitor, finishing with a time of 24:28.1.
 
NEXT UP
The WAC Championships await both the men's and women's teams on the morning of Saturday, Oct. 29, hosted by Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches, Texas.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
Follow the UTA track and field and cross country teams on Twitter (@UTAMavsTFXC), Instagram (@UTAMavsTFXC) and Facebook (/UTAMavsTFXC).