For Immediate Release: Saturday, 13 September 2003
Contact: Dave Geringer, UTPA Sports Information Director, (956) 381-2240

BRONCS EIGHTH, LADY BRONCS NINTH AT LOBO INVITATIONAL

ALBUQUERQUE, NM-The University of Texas Pan American's men's cross country team finished eighth and the women finished ninth at the Lobo Invitational Saturday at the University of New Mexico's North Golf Course.

The Broncs' team score of 230 placed them 33 points behind Fort Lewis. Colorado State's men finished first in the 8,000 meter race, with a score of 35. Following the Rams were Western State with 49 points, Texas-El Paso with 101, New Mexico with 129, Louisiana State with 159, and Texas Tech with 185. Trailing the Broncs were the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute at 263, New Mexico Highlands at 277, Dine College at 289, El Paso Community College at 310, Eastern New Mexico at 320, and New Mexico State at 393.

The Lady Broncs finished with 262 points, 38 behind Fort Lewis. CSU won the 6,000 meter race with 36 points, Texas Tech had 62, Texas-El Paso had 70, Western State had 79, New Mexico had 161, New Mexico Highlands had 193, and LSU had 212. The Lady Broncs were followed by Eastern New Mexico with 289, New Mexico Junior College with 305, SIPI with 323, and El Paso Community College with 389.

Freshman Loraine Garcia (Laredo, TX/Nixon HS) led the Lady Broncs, finishing 35th in 24:57. Freshman Ashley Perez (Falfurrias, TX/Falfurrias HS) was 51st in 26:30, junior Claudia Rosas (Mission, TX/Mission HS) was 57th in 26:57, freshman Lizette Garcia (McAllen, TX/McAllen HS) was 58th in 27:03, sophomore Dannely Flores (Brownsville, TX/Hanna HS) was 61st in 27:35, freshman Maria Vargas (San Juan, TX/PSJA Memorial HS) was 64th in 27:45, and freshman Karla Hernandez (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg HS) was 66th in 27:57.

Junior Westly Keating (Pharr, TX/PSJA North HS/Texas) led the Broncs, finishing ninth in 25:11. Junior Americo Ortiz (Wortham, TX/Wortham HS) was 40th in 27:05, senior Hugo Cervantes (Weslaco, TX/Weslaco HS/Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) was 54th in 27:45, freshman David Trevino (Brownsville, TX/Hanna HS) was 56th in 27:54, sophomore Aaron Castro (McAllen, TX/McAllen Memorial HS) was 71st in 29:04, freshman Jason Tejada (Brownsville, TX/Hanna HS) was 79th in 29:13, and junior David Ramirez (Mission, TX/Waelder HS) was 81st in 30:05.

"I was pretty pleased with our effort on the women's side," said UTPA Head Coach Ricky Vaughn. "Our top two finishers, and three out of our top four, were freshmen. Lorraine Garcia is going to be a very good runner for us. She turned in a solid performance, and I saw a lot of good things from her."

"On the men's side, Westly ran very well, Americo Ortiz ran very well, and David Ramirez ran a very solid race," Vaughn added. "We thought we should have placed a little better, team-wise. We had to come up to altitude, and run a tough course, and that's why we came here. We can see what we need to work on, and we can continue to get ready for regionals."

Texas-Pan American will take next week off, and return to action at the Whataburger Invitational in San Antonio Friday, October 26th.

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