ARLINGTON, Texas – At last year's Sun Belt Conference Championships, UT Arlington's women beat Little Rock by 116 points. Meeting on the race course for the first time since then, that gap was shrunk down to three points.
Little Rock's women scored 67 points and were edged by UT Arlington's 64 points as the teams competed at the UTA Invitational Friday evening in Arlington. The Trojan women were led once again by freshman
Mia Patria, whose two-mile time of 12:14.7 placed her fifth overall.
COMPLETE RESULTS (PDF)
Vianney Sanchez closely followed in 11
th place with a time of 12:26.1 while
Kimberley Boni finished just second behind her in 12
th place, running 12:27.1. With three runners in the top 15, the Trojan women showed they could be a bigger factor at this year's conference championship race.
Even the Trojan men showed they have the ability to score points as
Spencer Cardinal led Little Rock's men with a four-mile time of 20:51.2, placing fifth. The men's team finished fourth overall.
North Texas claimed the team title in both races while Texas State finished as runners-up in both.
Keila Finnestad (12:50.7) posted a 17
th place finish for the women, running not far from her hometown of Midlothian.
Bailey Cronin, a senior from Michigan that was very far from her hometown (and home state), finished 22
nd with a time of 13:06.6.
On the men's side,
Carter Reynolds ran 21:44.3 to place 16
th while
Andrew Payton's time of 22:04.4 placed him 19
th.
Little Rock will now return home to host the Little Rock Open on Oct. 17 at War Memorial Park.
For the latest information on Little Rock Cross Country, make sure to check out
LRTrojans.com. You can also find the team on social media at @LittleRockTFXC on
Facebook and
Twitter.
#LittleRocksTeam
