GRAND PRAIRIE – The UT Arlington men's cross country had eight runners finish in the top 10, including the top four finishers as the Mavs cruised to a first place finish at the UTA Season Opener on Saturday afternoon at Lynn Creek Park at Joe Pool Lake.

The men were only two points off a perfect score, finishing with 17 points for the victory, well ahead of second place TCU with 54 points. The women's side placed third with a score of 86 behind team champion SMU and TCU.

"Our men were really good today and our women went out and competed," said Head Coach John Sauerhage. "The competitions will get tougher from here and we will look to really hit our stride in the coming weeks." 

Sophomore Alfredo Reina Corona won the individual championship, crossing first with a time of 15:13.0. Patrick Estes followed for second place with a time of 15:17.6, while freshman Rogelio Aguirre made his debut with a third place finish at 15:19.9. Jackson Cichon rounded out the top four finishes with a time of 15:23.0. 

The Mavs were in terrific shape to take home the team championship and freshman Josue Granados locked that in with a seventh place finish in his debut at 15:36.6. The Mavs weren't done there as a pack of runners crossed with junior Jacob Ye in eighth (15:45.6), freshman Andrés Gurrola in ninth (15:48.9), freshman Brian Guevara in 10th (15:49.9), and junior Tanner Henderson in 11th (15:50.6).

UTA got two more finishes in the top 25 to round out all the runners competing in freshman Brandon Wilk (15:59.0) and senior Tyler Rodriguez (16:34.9).

For the men, it was their first victory at the season opener since 2018. 

On the women's side, a young squad with four runners making their debut put together a solid effort to earn a top three finish as a team. Freshman Lauren Walls-Portillo finished 14th in her debut to lead the Mavs at 18:49.4. 

Freshman Krianne McBride followed with a 17th place finish at 19:30.0, while sophomore Claire Compher was 19th at 19:40.4. Freshman Rachael Hartley followed in 20th at 19:45.7, while freshman Scarlett Johnson was 24th at 20:36.4. 

The Mavericks will be back in action next week as they head down to Nacogdoches for the Lumberjack Collegiate Invitational at Pecan Acres Park. It will be at the same course as the WAC Championships in October.

Women
1) SMU: 21
2) TCU: 37
2) UT Arlington: 86
4) Texas Wesleyan: 121
5) DBU: 138
6) Tarleton: 148

Men
1) UT Arlington: 17
1) TCU: 54
3) Hill College: 86
4) Tarleton: 109
5) DBU: 119

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