University of North Texas
UTA Invitational
Mean Green Claim Men’s Title at UTA
9/11/2021 9:39:00 AM | Cross Country
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – North Texas cross country opened their 2021 season with a men's team and individual title as Erika Barrett earned an individual top-10 finish and personal record Saturday at the UTA Season Opener at Lynn Creek Park.
The Mean Green men boasted the top three finishers with Braden Lange winning the 5K in 14:47.2, Caleb Bouchard placing second in 14:49.3 and Jack Beaumont finishing third in 14:56.3. UNT earned the men's title with 22 points with UTA in a distance second with 54.
"I think we have a lot deeper team this year," Lange said. "We have a lot of guys close together. It's good to have some company the whole time throughout the race."
Barrett improved upon her 5K time by nearly 70 seconds to grab 10th place in 18:19.6. The North Texas women completed the race with 96 points as SMU claimed first with 22.
"The women had a lot of positives after having a couple solid weeks of training with the group," head coach Matt Layten said. "Erika had a really nice run today. A lot of the girls ran tough, especially our young group."
Also finishing in the men's top 10 were Alec Esposito (7th, 15:08.1) and Luke Canon (9th, 15:12.2).
"The men looked nice and relaxed. It was nice to have a rust-buster race and get that in. Overall, this race set the table well for the rest of the season," Layten said.
North Texas heads to the Texas A&M Invitational Sept. 25.
Players Mentioned
