Freshmen Impress in UT Tyler King Campbell Spectacular on Friday
TYLER, Texas – The University of Dallas women's cross country team had an impressive start to the 2017 season at the UT Tyler King Campbell Spectacular on Friday. The race was 2 miles (3.22 Kilometers) and the Crusaders placed a quartet of runners in the top 10 places. Each of these racers made their collegiate debut with Emma Kate Callahan (Overland Park, Kan.) headlining the charge with second place (13:08.0). She had a 0:06.0 gap from Rachel Willis of host University of Texas at Tyler, who won first.
Clare Hernandez also cracked the top five finishes with a fourth place mark of 13:43.0. The Patriots held the remaining top five spots as Theresa Simmons got third and Michaela Heys claimed fifth. Still the Crusaders boasted their dept with two more runners in the next five places and three more top runners before the next UT-Tyler runner.
Lauren Zammit (Kingswood, Texas) and Alexandra Ralles (Tucson, Ariz.) rounded out the top ten spots at ninth and 10th, respectively with times of 13:56 and 13:58. Catherine Thelen (Raleigh, N.C.) clocked a 14:14 time for 14th place. Alondra Hurtado (Wichita Falls, Texas) got 19th with a 14:37 result.
Team scores were not counted in this early season competition, but the Crusaders did score well enough to win first among six other NCAA Division III schools. Among this group included fellow Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) member Austin College. East Texas Baptist University, LeTourneau University, UT-Tyler, and Louisiana College were in attendance from the American Southwest Conference. It was the team's first team meet since head coach Matt Barber has been at the helm, and first since the University of Dallas Invitational in 2013.
UP NEXT
The Crusaders will be back on the trails a week from today on September 8th at the Hardin-Simmons University Invitational. The race is slated to be a 5k.