Juana Garcia/The Cougar
On Friday morning, Houston’s cross country men’s team scored a seventh-place finish while the women’s cross country team finished eighth at the American Athletic Conference Championships at Holloway Park in Lakeland, Florida.
The men’s team accumulated 184 points earning their seventh-place finish. Senior Devin Vallejo-Bannister became the first Cougar to finish the 8K run, earning 16 points after his time stopped at 25:00.4.
Following Vallejo, junior Brandon Seagreaves scored a 23rd-place finish with a time of 25:21.5. Fellow junior Alan Elbanna’s time stopped at 26:16.4 with a ranking of 42.
Freshman Thomas Crider became the next Cougar to cross the finish line with a rank of 58. Crider stopped his time at 27:16.5, netting 52 points.
Rounding out the men’s team, senior Christian Gilmore and freshman Carlos Castillo stopped their time with respective finishes of 28:28.2 and 28:43.5. Sophomore Trey Grant was the final Cougar to complete the 8K with a time of 30:27.9.
Setting the pace for the women’s team, junior Darby Gauntt logged a 22nd-ranked finish with a time of 22:28.0. Senior Madeline Castleberry added another top-30 finish for the Cougars. She placed 25th with a time of 22:32.1.
The next women to cross the finish line were freshmen Erin Rivera and junior Claire Meyer who earned 43rd- and 44th-place finishes. Their times stopped at 23:07.4 and 23:12.5, respectively. The fifth woman to stop her time for the Cougars was junior Sondos Moursy, who finished 51st.
Closing out the 6K women’s run, freshman Daniela Castillo placed 66th with a time of 24:02.4. Freshman Victoria Ruiz and sophomore Zosia Bulhak crossed the finish line within seconds of each other with respective times of 24:14.8 and 24:22.6.
The Cougars’ men’s cross-country team placed seventh with a score of 184 points. The women’s team accumulated 182 points to earn an eighth-place finish. Tulsa placed first in both the men’s and women’s run.
The Cougars’ next meet is the NCAA Regional competition in Waco.
