Oct. 11, 2007

Texas A&M International University's cross country teams will get a final tune-up for the Heartland Conference Championships this Saturday at the Texas Lutheran Invitational. The women will run a 6K and the men an 8K.

TAMIU's men achieved their best race of the season at last weekend's Incarnate Word Invitational with a fifth place team finish. Gedyon Kiflezgi notched his first top-10 finish of the season at Incarnate Word, placing eighth with a 26:34 8K effort. Eddie González finished 22nd last week, followed by Luis Beltrán's 24th place finish.

The women's team finished ninth at Incarnate Word but all five TAMIU runners recorded personal best times. Jenny Méndez was TAMIU's top finisher with a 22:20 5K effort, good for 53rd place.

Head coach Benny Rodríguez says that hard training has paid off for both teams and he expects great accomplishments the last two meets of the year.

"Our men have experienced setbacks and mind games throughout the season but as we near conference our legs should be moving faster," Rodríguez said. "Our women have been making major improvements week after week and I expect that to continue the next two meets."

TAMIU will take next off before competing in the Heartland Conference Championships on Oct. 20 in San Antonio.