GRAND PRAIRIE – In the early hours of the morning at Lynn Creek Park, the Texas A&M University-Commerce men's and women's cross country teams started their seasons in the Orville Rogers XC Opener hosted by Dallas Baptist on Saturday. The men took fifth in the seven-team field, the women edged out Texas A&M-Kingsville via a tiebreaker to finish sixth among nine teams.
Alex Speer (Robinson) was the top-finisher for the Lions on the men's side, placing seventh among 75 runners with a time of 26:04.4 in the eight-kilometer race. This was the first collegiate race for the freshman from Robinson.
On the women's side,
Alondra Campa (Kaufman) narrowly edged out teammate
Katelyn Matthews (Burleson – Mansfield Legacy) for the fastest time on the team. Campa finished in 26
th with a time of 20:30.9 in the five-kilometer race, Matthews finished with a time of 20:33.0, placing 28
th among 71 runners.
MEN
Casey Novelo (Burleson – Trinity), Chris Navarrette (Laredo – Lyndon B. Johnson), and
Chris Flores (Rocksprings) finished within 20 seconds of each other, all three placed in the top-40. Novelo finished first in the pack with a time of 27:52.09, Navarrette followed with a mark of 27:58.8, and Flores rounded out the group clocking in a time of 28:08.0.
Among the rest of the Lions, Anthony Gonzalez (DeSoto) finished with a time of 28:32.5,
Marshall Pate (Kaufman) timed 28:51.9,
Nicholas Deutsch (Frisco) recorded a time of 29:01.0, and
Mykel Smith (Fort Worth – North Crowley) was just behind Deutsch with a time of 29:03.0.
Dallas Baptist took the team title with a team score of 20, aided by Matthew Hahn's pace of 25:29.2, which was the fastest time among all runners on Saturday morning.
WOMEN
Yenifer Martinez (Irving – Nimitz) finished third on the team with a time of 21:28.4,
Edith Branch (Denton – Lake Dallas) timed 22:15.2, and
Evelyn Brown (Paris) clocked 22:49.2 to follow Martinez.
Texas A&M-Kingsville and A&M-Commerce finished in a tie for sixth place with a score of 177. The Lions' sixth runner, Ladeana Perry (New Braunfels – Christian Academy) edged out the Javelinas' Cassandra Lozano by a margin of 22:58.9 to 25:29.1, respectively, to give the Lions the edge in the tiebreaker.
The Patriots took the women's team title as well with a team score of 32. Rogers State's Jillian Skalicky won the women's race with a time of 18:19.9.
UP NEXT
The Lions are home next week for the East Texas Shootout on Friday. The women's race begins at 5:30 p.m., the men follow at approximately 6:05 p.m. at Centennial Park.
