The Blinn College men's and women's cross country teams competed Saturday at the Old Glory Gallop, hosted by Dallas Baptist University, with the men placing 17th and the women finishing 22nd among 43 teams.
Sophomore Ryan Fernandez led the men's team with a 44th-place finish in 24 minutes, 37 seconds, setting a modern program record in the 8,000-meter cross country race. Sophomore Brandon Lopez also broke the 25-minute mark, finishing 68th in 24:57.
Sophomore Nolan Schreiber placed third among Blinn's runners in 25:36. Schreiber took an aggressive approach to the race, finishing more than two minutes faster than he did on the same course last year.
The Bucs finished ahead of several junior college programs, including Ranger College, Jacksonville College, Texas Southmost College, Murray State College, Hill College, and Seminole State College.
Head coach Jesse Parker said Blinn was disappointed with its team finish but felt his runners competed well with several highly ranked opponents. Parker noted that Western Texas College, Crowder College, and Butler Community College were more aggressive with their race tactics, which ultimately made the difference.
On the women's side, the Bucs placed 22nd overall, highlighted by several significant individual breakthroughs.
Freshman Mehria Rashidi paced Blinn with a 127th-place finish in 19:17. Rashidi recorded a substantial personal record, running more than two minutes faster than she did at the Texas A&M Invitational in September.
Freshmen Annie Fildes and Mary Antkowiak also delivered strong performances, finishing 152nd in 19:31 and 159th in 19:36, respectively. Both runners recorded significant personal bests.
Parker praised the consistency of Rashidi, Fildes, and Antkowiak and noted that several Bucs made major strides in their performances. The team had six runners break the 20-minute mark for 5,000 meters, according to Parker.
Blinn finished ahead of several programs, including Western Texas, Texas Southmost, Jacksonville, McMurray State, Hill, and Cisco, while finishing behind nationally ranked Weatherford College and Butler.
The Buccaneers will look to build on the performances at the NJCAA Region 14 Championships on Saturday, Oct. 31, in Brownsville, Texas.
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