Aug. 30, 2008

WACO, Texas - The Lamar University men's and women's cross country teams opened the 2008 season Friday evening at the Baylor Twilight Invitational at the Baylor University intramural fields in Waco, Texas, with the LU men claiming the team title and the women coming in third.

Francis Kasagule led the way for the Cardinals, winning the individual title in the men's 6K race in a time of 18:23.49, while Samuel Kosgei grabbed second place with an 18:24.01 performance. The Cards top-five performers were rounded out by Drew Bean who notched a fourth place finish in a time of 18:53.75.

Rounding out the scoring for Lamar was Frank Bwambale who finished in 18th place in a time of 19:48.78 and Randy Becker who crossed the finish line in 21st place in a time of 19:56.40. The Cardinals also had a handful of runners in the top 50 finishers as Spencer Prudhomme was 24th in a time of 20:07.15, Jared Rodriguez was 33rd in 20:38.37 and Ewan Simpson was 46th with a 21:07.10 performance.

Four newcomers to the LU cross country team were also in action as Ryan Kelly, Austin Malek, Aaron Malek and Jess Williams hit the course. Kelly finished in 52nd place in a time of 21:16.78, Austin Malek was 58th in 21:40.95, Williams was 59th in 21:43.18and Aaron Malek finished in 68th place in a time of 22:21.58.

The Lady Cardinals were led by Freshman Sandy Castro's 26th place finish as she covered the 4K course in a time of 15:30.56. Senior Stacey Monteau also added a top 30 finish for LU, placing 29th in a time of 15:34.80 while Taylor Cloy was 34th in a time of 15:44.79.

Mercy Bungei finished in 45th place for the Lady Cardinals, running a 16:26.47 while Emily Carpenter and Daisy Cantu rounded out the Lamar finishers. Carpenter placed 60th in a time of 16:50.60 and Cantu was 67th in a time of 17:11.45.

As a team the Lady Cardinals finished with a score of 134 points for the fifth place finish. Baylor won the meet with a score of 15 points, SMU was second with 57, TCU finished third with 85 points and Dallas Baptist was fourth with 89. Tarleton State and UT-Tyler rounded out the meet in sixth and seventh place, scoring 175 and 206 points respectively.

The cross country teams will be in action again on September 20 when they run at the Rice Invitational in Houston, Texas.