Opening Splash

August 30, Corpus Christi

Anita Quirino (El Paso, Tex.) outdistanced the field to pace the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women’s cross country team to a convincing victory at the Third Annual Opening Splash, Friday evening at West Guth Park.

The freshman covered the two-mile course in 11:37.39, winning the race by 18 seconds over defending champ, Bree Wilson (San Antonio, Tex.) of Texas A&M-CC. UT-San Antonio’s Leticia Cerna ruined a potential one-two-three sweep by edging Islander freshman Yvette Rodriguez (Corpus Christi, Tex.) at the tape for third. A&M-CC runners accounted for seven of the top eight finishers.

As a team, A&M-CC won the event by a wide 31-point margin over UT-San Antonio. UT-Pan American finished a distant third.

A&M-CC placed its first seven men before a UTPA runner crossed the line to post a convincing victory over the Broncs.

Enrique Garza (Pharr, Tex.) led the charge in the dual with UTPA, covering the three-mile course in 21:19.53. A&M-CC’s Eddie Geis (Corpus Christi, Tex.) placed second while freshman Louis Sandoval (Fredericksburg, Tex.) round out the top three.

Texas A&M-Kingsville’s Martin Corona registered the fastest time of any collegiate runner in the event, covering the course in 21:16.63. He led the Javelina’s to a team victory in the non-Division I race. TAMUK’s Eric Rivas and Luis Escamilla rounded out the top three in the race.

By virtue of a tiebreaker, the Javelina women finished second in the four-team women’s competition. Despite having the same amount of points, Trinity broke the tie as its sixth runner finished higher than TAMUK’s. Southwestern’s Mary Mapes won the individual title with a time of 12:32.39, defeating her nearest competition by four seconds. Kingsville’s Liz McCumber finished second, while Trinity’s Molly Eckdale placed third.