Texas Border Business
PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas — The Texas Southmost College men’s and women’s cross country teams delivered strong performances at the Clifton Gilliard Invite on Sept. 24, with the women’s team finishing second and the men’s team placing third.
WOMEN
The TSC women’s team placed second in the 5K race with 45 points, edging Prairie View A&M University, an NCAA Division I program, for the runner-up spot.
Three Scorpions finished in the top 10 individually. Freshman Emily Ortiz led the Scorpions with a fourth-place finish in 19:04.60. Angela Soto placed seventh in 19:26.50, while Indra Ibarra finished ninth with a personal-best time of 21:03.00.
Miley Leal and Arlene Salinas, who finished 12th and 13th, respectively, rounded out the Scorpions’ scoring lineup. Leal crossed the finish line at 21:34.00, while Salinas posted a time of 21:41.10.
Ilce Ceballos (23:53.50), Stephanie Ochoa (25:01.70), and Zuleika Sanchez (25:02.90) also competed for the Scorpions. Although they did not contribute to the team score, freshmen Ochoa and Sanchez recorded personal-best times.
The impressive showing comes after the Scorpions climbed to No. 8 in the latest NJCAA Division II Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll after being unranked in the preseason.
MEN
The TSC men’s team finished third in the 8K race with 54 points, coming within just three points of second-place Prairie View A&M.
Sophomore Ubaldo Flores paced the Scorpions with a sixth-place finish in 26:43.50. Ignacio Ochoa also earned a top-10 finish, placing eighth in 27:06.20.
Bryan Perez finished 13th in 27:52.00, while Aidan Swanson followed in 14th place with a time of 28:12.50. William Gonzalez rounded out the Scorpions’ scoring lineup with a 16th-place finish in 28:36.60.
Four of the Scorpions’ top five runners recorded personal-best times, while Perez posted a season-best mark.
Freshmen Ramiro Lozoya (28:53.40), Daniel Diaz (31:40.40), Raian Flores (34:21.80) and Alexander Guerrero (35:52.20) also completed the race. Lozoya, Flores and Guerrero each recorded personal-best times.
UP NEXT
Following their solid performances at the Clifton Gilliard Invite, the TSC cross country teams will turn their attention to the OLLU Invitational on Oct. 3.
