Texas Lutheran Men's Cross Country Places Fifth in Westside Classic

SAN ANTONIO, TX -- Texas Lutheran Men's and Women's Cross Country took on the Westside Classic at Pearsall Park in San Antonio this morning in a field that spanned from Division-I University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley and NAIA schools to other Division-III institutions.

Austin Szewczyk (Round Rock/Cedar Ridge) led the Bulldogs finishing the 8k race in 31:15.7 to finish 28th. Following Szewczyck were teammates Matthew Hoffmann (San Antonio/Clark) & Ryan Hernandez (Dallas/Uplift Peak Preparatory) posting times of 32:00.5 and 32:07.4 respectively to place 30th and 31st. Sophomore Koby Green (San Antonio/Clark) was the next to cross the finish line for the Bulldogs finishing with a time of 33:48.5 netting him a 33rd place finish and rounding out the top five for Texas Lutheran was Christian Urbina (San Antonio/Highlands) who finished 37th with a time of 41:36.2.

The men finished 5th in the meet and first among the Division-III teams represented at the meet with representatives from Schreiner, UMHB and Sul Ross competing in the 8K. Division 1, 2 and NAIA teams led in the team scoring ahead of TLU.

"Honestly, I know the times do not look good, but it was a tough course," coach Darlene Holland stated, "It was hot and humid and I was pretty pleased with how our guys ran their first 8K. Do we need to improve? Yes! But the foundation is solid and I know we are capable of so much more."

In the women's 6k, it was sophomore Caeli Taylor (Tilden/McMullen County) who led the Bulldogs finishing with a time of 26:16.5 to place 22nd in a field of 65 runners. Following Taylor was teammate was freshman Kristin Lucero posting a time of 26:33.4 for a 26th place finish. Mackenzie Payne (Celina/ Frisco Heritage), Gianna Kennedy (El Paso/El Paso) and Jackie Garcia (San Antonio/Cornerstone Christian) rounded out the top 5 for Texas Lutheran.

The Bulldogs finished 6th in the 6K race as a team - only a few seconds behind Division-II Texas A&M University - Kingsville and who again topped the other Division-III teams (UMHB, Schreiner and Sul Ross) in the meet.

Commenting on the women's results coach Holland said, "We really need to work on developing our fourth and fifth runners for our team. We are young and it's a learning process, so we have time. We will be working on it as the season progresses."

Next, Texas Lutheran Cross Country travels to Pflugerville, Texas for the Concordia Cross Country Classic next Friday, Sept. 24th.