Posted: Oct 01, 2022

Texas Lutheran Finishes Tenth in UIW Invitational

LIVE OAK, Texas -- The Texas Lutheran Men's and Women's Cross Country teams competed in the UIW Cross Country Invitational Saturday morning in Live Oak, Texas. The field featured teams from across the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) and American Southwest Conference (ASC) as well as numerous Division-I cross country teams.

WOMEN'S RECAP

Texas Lutheran women's cross country claimed a tenth place finish and finished third amongst Division-III teams. Caeli Taylor (Tilden/McMullen County) led the way, coming in 45th place with a time of 25:01.0. The time made for eighth amongst Division-III competitors. Mackenzie Payne (Celina/Frisco Heritage), LeeAnndrea Canas (Corpus Christi/West Oso), Gianna Kennedy (El Paso/El Paso), and Brenna Iannelli (La Grange/La Grange) finished 49th, 67th, 68th, and 74th, respectively, contributing to the team's performance that saw the Bulldogs finish with an average 6K time of 25:45.

MEN'S RECAP

Men's Cross Country also placed tenth, third amongst Division-III teams. Sophomore Carlos Cura (Midkiff/Rankin) was the first TLU athlete to cross the finish line - finishing 30th, third amongst Division-III runners, with a time of 26:13.3. The 26:13.3 time made for both a personal best and a new school record.

Following Cura was freshman Lucas Falcon (Victoria/Victoria East) who tallied a 62nd place finish with a time of 27.31.63. Cole Schuetz (Corpus Christi/London) was next for the Bulldogs, coming in 81st with a time of 28:29.8.

Gabriel Ceballos (San Antonio/Smithson Valley) and Matthew Hoffmann (San Antonio/Clark) rounded out the top five for the Bulldogs. As a team, the Bulldogs averaged a time of 28:30.

Coach Holland's comments: "Carlos Cura came out today with a mission! He wanted the school record for an 8K. He accomplished his goal and ran a huge personal best. I know he has a lot more in him. I'm excited to see how he races in the next couple of weeks.

I don't think we were as "up" for this meet as we have been in some other races. We ran respectably, but well under what we could have achieved. We were blessed with perfect racing weather, and I think, at least in some cases, we just didn't capitalize on the opportunity. Others had PRs, just like Carlos, but people they had beaten previously beat them this time around. We need to work on racing more aggressively and beating the competition, and with that the times will fall. As we prepare for Conference, we really need that "fierce" racing mentality to kick in."

FULL RACE RESULTS CAN BE FOUND AT: https://tlubulldogs.com/sports/wxc/2022-23/schedule

Texas Lutheran will compete in the OLLU Invite in San Antonio, Texas, on Friday, October 7, with the men's meet starting at 8 AM and the women's meet time still to be announced. For all updates on Texas Lutheran Cross Country, follow @tluxctf on Instagram as well as all official TLU Athletics accounts.