Sept. 2, 2007

The Southwestern University men's and women's cross country teams opened the 2007 season on Saturday (Sept. 1) at the University of the Incarnate Word Relays in a different format race than what the team will run the rest of the season.

Head cross country coach Francie L. Smith said "The relay format is a great way to open the season over a shorter cross country distance which helps to ease the transition into the racing season."

For the women's team, the duo of Tami Warner (Dale, TX/Lockhart HS) and Jessica Ratcliffe (Coppell, TX/Coppell HS) were the top performers as they finished the race in 26:20.3. The two Pirate runners placed eighth overall. Finishing in 11th place were junior Kristin Lahaie (Cypress, TX/St. Pius X HS) and senior Karin Arnhamn (Manor, TX/Elgin HS) who teamed up for a time of 27:07.7.

Elly Martinez (Lockhart, TX/Lockhart HS) and Lili McEntire (Smithville, TX/Smithville HS) finished one second behind their teammates as the posted a time of 27:08.2, good for 12th. In 15 place were first-years Ursula James (Sugarland, TX/Elkins HS) and Angela Anderson (Fort Hood, TX/Central Texas College) with a time of 28:23.4 followed by Dianna Urrego (Houston, TX/St. Agnes Academy) and Shannon Burge (Sweeny, TX/Sweeny HS) who ran the race in 30:41.6 in 19th place.

On the men's side, junior Ben Sloan (Spartanburg, SC/Dorman HS) and sophomore transfer Josh Gideon (Mesquite, TX/McMurry University) took sixth place by combining for a time of 34:48.0. The duo finished 1:08 behind the top pair from Trinity. Matthew Broussard (College Station, TX/A&M Consolidated HS) and Allen Smith (Dallas, TX) totaled a time of 36:50.0, good for 14th. Immediately behind them was the pairing of Addison English (Keller, TX/Keller HS) and David Pruit (Grapevine, TX/Cistercian Preparatory) in 15th accumulating a total of 37:14.0.

First-year Sebastian Winkler () and transfer junior Shug Evans () posted a time of 37:22.0 for 17th place while Brian Schaefer () and Ted Wilson placed 22nd with a cumulative time of 40:54.0.

The Pirates will have their next race will be the Texas State Division III Cross Country Championships in Abilene, TX on Saturday (Sept. 22).