Sept. 23, 2009

Texas A&M International University's men's and women's cross country teams will be idle this weekend before resuming the season on Oct. 3 at the Texas Lutheran Invitational. The season is off to a somewhat staggered start with two events over the first four weeks due to the cancellation of the Texas A&M Invitational on Sept. 12.

The Dustdevils last competed at the Ricardo Romo UTSA Six Flags Fiesta Texas Classic on Sept. 18. Both squads finished in fourth place in the team standings amongst a field of seven teams.

The men notched three top-15 finishes at the UTSA meet with Luís Beltrán finishing 12th, Robert Coronado placing 14th and Antonio González finishing 15th. All three results were personal records for TAMIU's top three.

Marlene Gutiérrez placed fifth and Jenny Méndez in 19th place on the women's side in San Antonio. The 19:18 5K was a career best for Gutiérrez as a college runner and was an improvement of 15 spots from her 20th place finish at the 2008 UTSA Classic.

Head coach Benny Rodríguez believes both teams are in position for a successful remainder of the season.

"The women are holding their ground and finished only a couple of points behind conference foe St. Mary's at UTSA," Rodríguez said.

"On the men's side our top three ran personal records last weekend and I am waiting for our other runners to step up and fill in the gaps for the fourth and fifth positions. It looks promising for both squads and we are doing our best to come out on top."