HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The University of Arkansas – Fort Smith cross country teams each ran program bests in terms of team averages Saturday at the UAH Chargers Invitational.
The men's team had eight personal bests as it set a new team average of 26:12 in the 8k while the women's team had a team average of 19:29 in the 5k with three personal bests.
UAFS finished 26th of 48 teams on the men's side with 805 points with the women finishing 19th of 44 teams with 667 points.
"I am beyond pleased with our results this weekend," said head coach Mason Rhodes. "We raced in one of the largest D2 cross country meets in the country and our runners showed up and proved we are a team to watch out for."
Carlos Hernandez paced the men's team with an 82nd-place finish in 24:54.00 as he continues to improve upon his school record.
Jordan Foster was next to cross the line in 214th in 26:11.20. Lawson Douglas and Joaquin Alva came across the line just a second apart, with Douglas in 243rd in 26:27.70 and Alva in 245th in 26:28.70.
Oskar Minick, Cade Weatherton and Corey Maxwell rounded out the scoring for the Lions with times of 27:01.90, 27:12.10 and 27:20.20, respectively.
Rachel Malik was the top finisher for the women running a 5k time of 18:42.30 to place 89th. Kari Sosa placed 107th in 18:54.30 while Hailey Malik placed 140th in 19:13.00.
The quartet of Jennifer Martinez, Camille Lear, Zoe Nesbitt and Shaddy Gonzalez all finished within 20 seconds of each other to complete the scoring for the Lions. Martinez ran a 20:15.20, Lear a 20:23.50, Nesbitt a 20:29.90 and Gonzalez a 20:33.10.
Saylor Vera also broke the 21-minute mark with a time of 20:51.30.
"We are primed and ready to move into the championship phase of our season," Rhodes said, as the Lions are next scheduled to run in the Lone Star Conference Championships November 5 in Wichita Falls, Texas.
