The TCU cross country teams made a successful trip to Grand Prairie, Texas, finishing with one runner in the top five from both the men and women in the Gerald Richey Cross Country Invitational hosted by the University of Texas at Arlington Saturday.
Both the men’s and women’s teams ran the five-kilometer distance (3.11 miles) and finished fourth overall, with the men finishing fourth out of five teams and the women finishing fourth out of seven teams.
The Horned Frogs were looking to make some major drops after their first weekend of racing at College Station earlier this month, where the men placed third and the women placed sixth.
Sophomore Mariana Martinez finished fourth in the race this weekend, improving her result (eighth) from the Aggie Opener.
The women’s team is full of young talent, which is how head coach Lisa Morgan-Richman said she plans to build the future of the distance program.
“Mariana leads our women’s team, but there are other sophomores coming up, and we were blessed with a few walk-ons,” said Morgan-Richman.
The men’s team is “full of a bunch of [first-year students] and sophomores led by senior Lakelin Conrad,” said Morgan-Richman.
After the race, Conrad said he’s proud to be on a team with “a lot of young guys with a lot of energy who really bring a positive attitude to the course every day.”
Conrad led the men’s team to finish fourth overall. The senior ran 15:05, dropping over 30 seconds off his time from the Aggie Opener last week, where he ran 15:38.
Sophomore Chris Vescovo followed Conrad and finished in 19th overall. He ran a time of 15:44, dropping down from 16:36 the week before. Next to cross the line for the Frogs were sophomore Ryan Martin and first-year Noah Winters, who finished 24th and 25th with times of 16:00 and 16:01, respectively.
Three TCU freshmen capped off the men’s scoring with Stone Burke, Gabriel Diaz and Finn Riley finishing 27th, 28th and 29th. The Horned Frogs’ top seven athletes all finished in the top 30, under the 16:20 mark, leading to a score of 97 points.
On the women’s side, the top runner for TCU was Martinez, who ran a time of 17:58 for her first 5K of the season. Martinez held tight throughout the race, navigating through a tight group of Southern Methodist University runners, and ultimately finishing fourth overall.
Coming in close after Martinez was sophomore Jasmine Muhammad-Graham, who finished 12th overall with a time of 18:51, just outside of the top pack. Finishing third for the Horned Frogs and 23rd overall was sophomore Peyton McQuillan, who logged a time of 19:18.
Rounding out the scoring for the women’s team was first-year Rylan Engels in 32nd, sophomore Lailah White in 38th, first-year Danielle Ammentorp in 40th and Gracie Davis in 45th.
TCU cross country has a long break until its next meet, as the runners prepare for the Arturo Barrios Invitational in College Station on Oct. 16, 2021.
