BLINN CROSS COUNTRY COMPETES IN FIRST MEET OF THE SEASON

(Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information)

The Blinn College men's and women's cross country teams kicked off their respective seasons at the Stormy Seas Opener on Friday in Georgetown, Texas.

The 5K run (3.1 miles), which was hosted by Southwestern University, was the first of its kind for Blinn in almost 30 years. The Buccaneers revived their cross country program this season after discontinuing the sport following the 1995 season.  

The Buccaneer men finished fifth out of nine teams, while Blinn's women's squad took seventh place in a nine-team race.

"I was impressed with the attitude, focus and competitiveness of each of our athletes today," Blinn head coach Jesse Parker said. "These qualities translate well to all races and at all levels. If we continue displaying these characteristics in practice and in competition, I feel good about what we can accomplish by the end of the year."

Blinn's men's team made a splash as its fifth-place finish pushed it past a quartet of four-year programs (Prairie View A&M University, Concordia University, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, and Schreiner University). 

The University of Texas secured first place.

Freshman Edward Rivera (16 minutes, 36.16 seconds) led the Bucs with a 26th-place showing, but was a part of a tight-knit run that saw sophomore Eric Lagat (27th at 16:41.17) and freshmen Christian Gonzalez (29th at 16:44.45) and Joseph Villegas (30th at 16:45.90) crossed the finish line within 10 seconds of each other. 

"We still have a lot of work ahead of us, and the men will tackle their first 8K run in two weeks when we travel to Texas A&M," Parker said. "I expect that to be a massive learning experience for our athletes, much like today was."

On the women's side, Texas also claimed the crown. The Bucs, however, outlasted Schreiner and Concordia while placing seventh. 

Freshman Clare White posted a time of 21:08.10 to claim 35th place and lead Blinn. Freshmen Sophie Pyle (22:07.53) and Juliana Jeansonne (22:20.39) took 52nd and 54th place, respectively.

"I was very pleased with the way the women competed today," Parker said. "They went out well as a group and they were able to keep a tight pack through the first half of the race before they started to separate from each other. With a few more weeks of practice and a bit more race conditioning, I expect we'll continue to see our pack run stronger together."

Up next for the Blinn men and women is the Texas A&M Invitational beginning at 8 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 13, in College Station, Texas.