September 27, 2008
San Antonio – Jessie Smith finished 18th individually in a season-best time, helping the St. Mary’s University cross country team to an eighth place finish at the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Islander Splash Invitational Friday night at West Guth Park.
Smith (Sr., Boerne) covered the five-kilometer course in a time of 19:22, good for 18th place overall. The time was her best for the five-kilometer distance this season and the 18th-place finish was her fourth straight top-25 finish. The top finisher at the meet was Dan Mecke of the University of Texas-San Antonio in a time of 17:09.
Amy Crissman (Jr., San Antonio) was the second finisher for the Rattlers, placing 31st in a time of 21:37. Melissa Recio (Sr., Laredo) finished 33rd in a time of 21:42, Katrina White (So., San Antonio) was 39th in 23:21, Amanda Benavides (Sr., San Antonio) was 45th in a time of 24:14 and Courtney Deane (Jr., El Paso) was 48th in 26:12.
In the team standings host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi took the title with a score of 24 points. Texas-San Antonio was second with 72, the University of Texas-Pan American was third with 80, Central Arkansas was fourth with 102, Tech de Monterrey was fifth with 106, St. Mary’s was sixth with 134 and Texas A&M University-Kingsville was seventh with 155.
St. Mary’s will return to action on Oct. 18 when they travel to Dallas for the Heartland Conference Championships, hosted by Dallas Baptist University.