For Immediate Release: November 10, 2001
Contact: Dave Geringer, UTPA Director of Athletic Media Relations, (956) 381-2240

BRONCS 12TH, 14TH AT REGIONALS

COLLEGE STATION, TX – The University of Texas-Pan American men’s cross country team finished 14th and the women finished 12th at the NCAA South Central Region Championships at Texas A&M Saturday.

In the 10 kilometer men's race, the Broncs finished 14th of 17 teams with 421 points. Arkansas was first with 56 points and Texas second with 115. UTPA finished ahead of Louisiana-Lafayette, Houston, and Louisiana-Monroe.

The Lady Broncs were 12th of 15 teams with 319 points. Arkansas was first with 36 points, and Texas had 85. The Lady Broncs finished ahead of Stephen F. Austin State, Louisiana-Lafayette and Nicholls State, and finished just 19 points behind Louisiana State over the distance of six kilometers.

Senior Perla Rios-Handy (LaPorte, TX/LaPorte HS), who finished 29th in 22:08, was UTPA’s top finisher Freshman Maria Gonzalez (Elsa, TX/Edcouch-Elsa HS) was 64th in 23:25, sophomore Patty Villarreal (San Juan, TX/PSJA HS) was 75th in 23:53, freshman Claudia Rosas (Mission, TX/Mission HS) 90th in 24:33, and sophomore Millie Martinez (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg North HS) 111th in 29:41.

Sophomore Hugo Cervantes (Weslaco, TX/Weslaco HS) led the Broncs, finishing 58th in 32:41. Junior Israel Arroyo (Houston, TX/Memorial HS) was 90th  in 34:17,  junior Martin Longoria (Edcouch, TX/Elsa-Edcouch HS) was 103rd in 35:03, sophomore Esteban Reyna (San Antonio, TX) was 109th in 35:42, junior Roosevelt Campbell (Mission, TX/Mission HS) was 120th in 38:42, and junior Carlos Gallegos (McAllen, TX) was 122nd in 39:18.

“We  were pleased with the results, especially with the way the men ran,” said Assistant Coach Gabe Rodriguez. “Earlier in the year, we were beaten by Houston, and, today we were able to beat them. We’ve been improving all year, and it was a nice way to finish.”

“Our women also ran well as a team,” said Rodriguez. “Perla was a little disappointed, but she went out and ran really hard with the girls from Arkansas, and she didn’t have that much left at the end. She improved her time and place a lot from last year. Patty also ran very well, and we ran well as a team. We were only nine points behind LSU, so we were happy overall.”

The meet ends the cross country season for the Broncs and Lady Broncs.

TEAM SCORES-MEN-Arkansas 56, Texas 115, Tulane 125, Baylor 131, Southern Methodist 134, Texas A&M 136, North Texas 184, Stephen F. Austin State 201, Louisiana State 203, Rice, 234, Southwest Texas State 243, Arkansas-Little Rock 266, Texas Christian 336, Texas-Pan American 421, Louisiana-Lafayette 430, Houston 439, Louisiana-Monroe 449.

WOMEN-Arkansas 36, Texas 85, Baylor 98, Texas A&M 109, Texas Christian 137, Rice 145, Arkansas-Little Rock 200, Houston 202, Southwest Texas State 288, Louisiana-Monroe 294, Louisiana State 300, Texas-Pan American 319, Stephen F. Austin State 330, Louisiana-Lafayette 339, Nicholls State 410.

UTPA RESULTS

MEN

58- Hugo Cervantes, 32:41.
90- Israel Arroyo 34:17
103-Martin Longoria 35:03
109-Esteban Reyna 35:42
120-Roosevelt Campbell 38:42
122-Carlos Gallegos 39:18.

 

WOMEN

 

29- Perla Rios-Handy 22:08
64- Maria Gonzalez 23:25
75-Patty Villarreal 23:53
90- Claudia Rosas 24:33
111-Millie Martinez 29:41

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