Texas Border Business
COLLEGE STATION – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) men’s and women’s cross country teams finished ahead of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at the Arturo Barrios Invitational to earn six points in the South Texas Showdown, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union, on Saturday at Dale Watts Cross Country Course.
The UTRGV men came in 13th out of 26 in the 8K, finishing with 331 points and an average time of 25:00.71. Corpus Christi placed 18th with 427 points and an average time of 25:28.37.
The UTRGV women, the No. 12 ranked team in the South Central Region, came in 13th out of 25 with 354 points and an average time of 22:02.53. Corpus Christi, the No. 14 ranked team in the region, came in 17th with 473 points and an average time of 22:18.22.
UTRGV now lead Corpus Christi 13-6 in the showdown standings.
Sophomore Abraham Chirchir broke the men’s program record in the 8K with a time of 23:41.2, 1.8 seconds faster than the previous program record of 23:43.0, set by Westly Keating’s in 2005. For his efforts, Chirchir placed fourth out of 226 competitors.
Freshman Alex Munoz also entered the record book, recording the 10th-fastest time in program history,24:27.1, to finish 28th.
Sophomore Dorcas Koech recorded the third fastest 6K in women’s program history by finishing in 21:04.3, good for 17th out of 238 competitors.
Freshman Sharon Koima and senior Sierra Spinler also recorded personal records, with Koima finishing 63rd in a time of 21:58.0 and Spinler placing 79th in a time of 22:10.8.
UTRGV is back in action on Nov. 2 for the Western Athletic Conference Championships, hosted by Kansas City. The men compete in an 8K at 10 a.m. while the women follow with a 6K at 11.
The next event of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union, is men’s basketball at Corpus Christi on Nov. 17 at 3:30 p.m.
UTRGV Men’s Cross Country Results (8K)
| Place | Runner | Time |
| 4. | Abraham Chirchir | 23:41.2 |
| 28 | Alex Munoz | 24:27.1 |
| 86. | Omer Almog | 25:25.2 |
| 96. | Juan Manzano | 25:32.2 |
| 117. | Tristan Pena | 25:58.1 |
| 142. | Edward Ramos | 26:20.7 |
UTRGV Women’s Cross Country Results (6K)
| Place | Runner | Time |
| 17. | Dorcas Koech | 21:04.3 |
| 63. | Sharon Koima | 21:58.0 |
| 79. | Sierra Spinler | 22:10.8 |
| 110. | Bryanna Rios | 22:28.2 |
| 116. | Alma Villanueva | 22:31.5 |
 men’s and women’s cross country teams finished ahead of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at the Arturo Barrios Invitational to earn six points in the South Texas Showdown, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union, on Saturday at Dale Watts Cross Country Course.){kind=link}