Men’s

After a string of strong races, Texas was able to use that momentum to put together a third place performance in the Big 12 Championships on Saturday.

Texas finished with two all-conference runners, with freshman Craig Lutz leading the Longhorns with a fourth-place finish overall.

“It felt really good today,” Lutz said. “Overall I am very happy … Every race this season is small steps towards the NCAA Championships.”

Sophomore Ryan Dohner finished No. 15 overall to give Texas its second all-conference runner. The Longhorns placed three more runners in the top-30 with senior Brock Simmons finishing 19th, junior Rory Tunningley finishing 23rd, and freshman Mark Pinales finishing 26th.

“We are really excited about the guys today,” Texas head coach Bubba Thornton said. “They showed that our program is heading in the right direction. Coach [John] Hayes is giving tremendous direction and people around the country need to start taking us seriously in cross country.”

Texas will start preparing for the NCAA South Central Regional set for Nov. 12 at Cottonwood Country Club in Waco.
 

Women’s

Texas had two runners finish with all-conference honors as the Longhorns finished second in the Big 12 Championships on Saturday.

Leading the Longhorns was sophomore Marielle Hall who took eighth, followed by sophomore Sara Sutherland with a No. 11 finish.

“We have improved immensely and are a completely different team,” Texas cross country coach Steve Sisson said. “I am so proud of them because our seniors were on teams that finished at the bottom of the Big 12 at this race and have gotten better every year.”

Texas finished second to Iowa State to earn its highest finish in the Big 12 conference. Senior Mia Behm finished 16th, sophomore Megan Siebert finished 23rd, and senior Laleh Mojtabaeezamani finished 25th to all score points for Texas.

“The biggest thing is that we were really gunning for first and aren’t quite satisfied with second,” Sutherland said. “That is really indicative of how far this program has come that we aren’t satisfied with second even though it is the best finish in program history.”

The Longhorns will race next at the NCAA South Central Regional on Nov. 12 at the Cottonwood Country Club in Waco.