BRONCS POST BEST FINISH EVER, KEATING 3RD, WOMEN 13TH AT REGIONALS
Contact: Dave Geringer, UTPA Sports Information Director, (956) 381-2240

EDINBURG, TX-Saturday was quite a day for The University of Texas-Pan American's cross country teams.

For the second year in a row, junior Westly Keating (Pharr, TX/PSJA HS/Texas) qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships. The Broncs posted their best finish ever at a regional championship, and the women improved by five places over last year's finish.

Keating finished third in 30:13 after running with the winner, Paul Morrison of Texas, for three-quarters of the 10 kilometer race. Morrison finished in 29:43, and Alistair Cregg of Arkansas edged Keating for second place.

"We were running hard for the first four miles, and we had a big lead," said Keating. "I kind of faded a little in the last part of the race, and got out kicked for second place. I'm looking forward to going to nationals in 10 days."

"The race went out extremely hard, and Westly was leading for approximately four and a half miles," said UTPA Assistant Coach Doug Molnar. "The heat and humidity caught up with him, but he maintained third place, and did a great job."

Keating's third place finish helped the Broncs to finish eighth overall with 271 points. Senior Hugo Cervantes (Weslaco, TX/Weslaco HS/Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) was 44th in 32:33, sophomore Aaron Castro (McAllen, TX/McAllen Memorial HS) was 70th in 33:58, freshman David Trevino (Brownsville, TX/.Hanna HS) was 72nd in 34:06, junior Americo Ortiz (Wortham, TX/Wortham HS) was 82nd in 34:37, freshman Benito Maldonado (Progreso, TX/Progreso HS) was 83rd in 34:42, and freshman Jason Tejada (Brownsville, TX/Hanna HS) was 92nd in 35:10. Arkansas and Texas A&M claimed the top two spots and qualified their teams for the NCAAs.

"Our men ran a great race," said UTPA Head Coach Ricky Vaughn. "By running as well as we did with as many freshmen as we have, it shows that we have a lot of great things to come in the near future."

The Lady Broncs finished 13th in the 17-team field, with 369 points. Freshman Lorraine Garcia (Laredo, TX/Nixon HS) was 61st in 23:43, freshman Ashley Perez (Falfurrias, TX/Falfurrias HS) was 62nd in 23:45, sophomore Claudia Rosas (Mission, TX/Mission HS) was 67th in 23:56, sophomore Maria Vargas (San Juan, TX/PSJA Memorial HS/Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) was 88th in 24:46, sophomore Dannely Flores (Brownsville, TX/Hanna HS) was 91st in 24:51, freshman Lizet Garcia (McAllen, TX/McAllen HS) was 103rd in 25:34, and freshman Karla Hernandez (Edinburg, TX/Edinburg HS) was 109th in 26:55. Texas and Baylor claimed the top two spots and qualified their teams for the NCAAs.

"It was a very solid finish for our women, considering how young we are," said Vaughn. "They went out and battled for the whole race, and it showed in their finish, with three women under 24 minutes and five freshmen in the lineup."

Keating will advance to compete at the NCAA Championships at Northern Iowa Monday, November 24th.

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