Texas State cross country will wrap up its season with a final test at the Sun Belt Conference Championship Meet on Oct. 31 in Mobile, Alabama.
The Bobcats are looking to send more athletes to the NCAA Regional Championships, which will take place at 75% capacity in spring 2021. Four Texas State athletes advanced to the meet in 2019, with each of them reaching the top 75.
This season, both the men’s and women’s teams have placed second in two meets, the University of Texas at Arlington Invitational on Sept. 25 and the Naimadu Classic on Oct. 17. Both teams also participated in the Cowboy Jamboree on Oct. 3, with the men’s team placing 12th and the women’s placing 13th overall.
Texas State has once again witnessed standout performances from seniors Sydney Cole and Justin Botello, each of who competed in the NCAA Regional Championships in 2019.
Cole, a returning Sun Belt All-Conference runner, placed second in the women’s race at the two-mile UTA meet and finished fourth at the Naimadu Classic with a time of 22:38.20. Botello also finished second at the UTA Invitational with a time of 20:23.3 and nabbed another second-place finish at the Naimadu meet with a time of 25:29.81.
Newcomer senior Esmeralda Fuentes has also had a promising start heading into the conference championships. In her Texas State cross country debut, Fuentes finished third at the UTA meet with a time of 12:04.2. Fuentes also led the Bobcats at the Cowboy Jamboree as she competed against Big XII opponents for a 41st place finish and a time of 23:18.3.
On the men’s side, freshman AJ Tyler has also nabbed two top-ten finishes, placing eighth at the UTA meet with a time of 21:02.2 and landing a fifth-place slot with a time of 25:43.78 at the Naimadu Classic.
The Bobcats have seen two Sun Belt opponents this season, UTA and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and defeated both at the UTA Invite. At the meet, the men’s team notched 11 points above UTA, who placed third, and was 37 points over Little Rock. The women’s team also scored 11 points over the Mavericks and finished 14 points over Little Rock.