Cross country teams finish season, conference competition

Nov 2 2009 - 9:56pm | Blake Barington

The Southland Conference Championship, hosted by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, was the last competition of the season for the Texas State men’s and women’s cross country teams.

The Texas State women took home eighth while the men finished in ninth place.

Steffanie Armstrong, exercise and sports science sophomore, was the Bobcats’ top runner throughout the 2009 season. She stayed consistent at the championship, placing first for the Bobcats and 16th overall with 21:51 minutes.

Coach Grigori Viniar was pleased with Armstrong’s and Michael Morris’, biology sophomore, performances.

“Steffanie moved from her 44th place (24:47) last year to 16th (21:51) this year,” Viniar said.

Esperanza Lopez, undecided freshman, was second for the Bobcats and 31st overall with finishing in 22:28 minutes.
Heather Bullin, exercise and sports science senior, was stride for stride with Lopez finishing one second behind her in 22:29 minutes.

Other scorers for the Bobcats included Sandra Venegas, exercise and sports science sophomore, and Dana Dolejsi, pre-healthcare administration freshman, finishing with times of 22:58 and 23:28, respectively.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi team won the women’s race with 58 points. The Islanders’ Anne Ronoh won the race with a time of 20:44 minutes.

The Bobcat women posted 173 points.

“Three of our top girls graduated last year and we’ve got just one decent freshman (Esperanza Lopez) to replace them,” Viniar said. “This year we’ve had some negative factors that happened all at the same time. We had our two best cross country runners injured. Jonathan

Hernandez already had foot surgery and Mike Richards is on his way for that.”

Morris was the first Bobcat to finish Saturday and 27th overall in 25:47 minutes.

“Mike moved from his 39th place (27:19) last year to 27th place (25:47),” Viniar said.

Hugo Corral, pre-international studies sophomore, was second for the Bobcats, finishing in 26:19 minutes.

Jesus Ordaz, pre-geography freshman, was behind Corral with 26:29 minutes.

Other scorers for the Bobcats include Matt Novak, exercise and sports science junior, who finished in 27:31, and Andres Herrera, exercise and sports science freshman, in 27:41 minutes.

Lamar won the men’s race for the fourth consecutive year with 38 points. Lamar’s Francis Kasagule won the individual title with a time of 23:54 minutes. The Bobcat men totaled 222 points.

Viniar said changes from each year have altered the Bobcats’ potential.

“Unfortunately the change of generations on the team sometimes happens to be very painful,” Viniar said. “I think it might take this year to have new recruits to get our teams back to the top part of the conference.”

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