KEATING REPEATS AS INDEPENDENT CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPION
Contact: Dave Geringer, UTPA Sports Information Director, (956) 381-2240

EDINBURG, TX-Junior Westly Keating repeated as the Independent champion, and The University of Texas-Pan American's men's cross country team nearly won the team title at the Independent Championships at West Guth Park in Corpus Christi Saturday.

Keating finished first in 25:12, and was named Independent Runner of the Year. He won by a minute and 26 seconds. The Broncs finished with 39 points, eight points behind Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Utah Valley State was third with 60 points.

The Lady Broncs finished fourth with 98 points, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi was first with 25 points, Utah Valley State had 30, and Northern Colorado had 92.

For the Broncs, senior Hugo Cervantes (Weslaco, TX/Weslaco HS/Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) was fourth in 26:46, freshman Benito Maldonado (Progreso, TX/Progreso HS) 10th in 27:52, freshman Jason Tejada (Brownsville, TX/Hanna HS) was 11th in 27:56, freshman Beto Alvarado (Weslaco, TX/Weslaco HS) 18th in 28:40, freshman David Trevino (Brownsville, TX/Hanna HS) 19th in 28:51, sophomore Aaron Castro (McAllen, TX/McAllen Memorial HS) 23rd in 30:11, and junior Americo Ortiz (Wortham, TX/Wortham HS) 25th in 30:43. Keating, Cervantes, Maldonado and Tejada earned All-Independent honors for their performances.

The Lady Broncs were led by freshman Lorraine Garcia (Laredo, TX/Nixon HS), who finished 12th in 19:10. Freshman Ashley Perez (Falfurrias, TX/Falfurrias HS) was 19th in 19:25, sophomore Maria Vargas (San Juan, TX/PSJA Memorial HS/Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) was 22nd in 19:41, sophomore Claudia Rosas (Mission, TX/Mission HS) was 28th in 20:05, sophomore Dannely Flores (Brownsville, TX/Hanna HS) 29th in 20:07, freshman Karla Hernandez (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg HS) was 33rd in 20:28, freshman Lizet Garcia (McAllen, TX/McAllen HS) was 35th, and sophomore Deanah Chavez (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg HDS) finished 37th.

"Westly ran a great race, said UTPA Head Coach Ricky Vaughn. "It was hot and humid, and the times weren't as fast as they might have been otherwise. Hugo ran a great race, and Benito, Ben and Jason were tremendous. With four freshmen in our top six, we have a really good base."

Vaughn was also pleased with the women's race. "Overall, we had a strong finish," said Vaughn. "We had all freshmen and sophomores running against all upperclassmen, and we had a lot of personal records, so you can't ask for much more. We have a good nucleus of runners, and a great future ahead of us."

Texas-Pan American will return to action at the NCAA South Central regionals at Baylor Saturday, November 15th.

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