University of North Texas
Texas A&M Invitational
Record Day for Mean Green Cross Country
9/25/2021 12:10:00 PM | Cross Country
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – North Texas men's cross country eked out the team title at the Texas A&M Invitational Saturday with a one-point win over the host team and earned three top 10 finishes Saturday at Watts Cross Country Course.
The Mean Green men compiled 43 points compared to 44 by the Aggies. The first eight finishers for North Texas each achieved personal records in the 8k race. Caleb Bouchard earned runner-up honors with a time of 23:47.5. Braden Lange came in fourth at 23:54.6 while Jack Beaumont was seventh in 24:02.8.
Also recording career-bests were Alec Esposito (13th, 24:19.7), Victor Neiva (17th, 24:28.4), Logan Mitchell (18th, 24:30.1), Spencer Boykin (22nd, 24:37.3) and Luke Canon (42nd, 25:20.7).
The UNT men have now won the team title in two races this season with the first victory taking place Sept. 11 at UTA.
"I'm really proud of the guys today," head cross country coach Matt Layten said. "It was a close team battle with some highly ranked teams in the region and each of our guys executed their process well when it was time to compete."
The top finisher for the Mean Green women also had a record day. Erika Barrett knocked off nearly a minute to clock a 5k personal record in 18:29.8 for 15th place. Audrey Springer finished 24th in 19:03.4, Gwyneth Garcia was 44th in 19:49.3, and Laurynn Hogan came in 46th with a time of 19:56.5.
The UNT women finished in fifth place overall with 135 points as Texas A&M took first with 23.
"We brought a large continent on the women's side this week and saw the group take some steps as a program after this race," Layten said. "The strong work we've been putting in over the last month is starting to pay dividends and we saw a lot of progress today."
North Texas competes in the Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Oct. 2.
Players Mentioned
