University of Houston
Baylor Twilight Invitational
Freshman Wins First Collegiate Meet
8/31/2013 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Aug 31, 2013
Complete Results | Women's Results (PDF) | Men's Results (PDF)
WACO, Texas - In his first collegiate meet, freshman Brian Barraza took first place at the Baylor Twilight Invitational Friday evening in Waco, Texas.
The El Paso, Texas native crossed the finish line with a time of 18:19.9 during the 6,000-kilometer run. He was five seconds ahead of University of Texas senior Will Nation.
"For Brian to come out and win his first meet as a collegiate runner is beyond impressive," cross country head coach Steve Magness said. "He was up against some of the top runners in the region with Texas at the meet and really stepped up."
Sophomore James Broussard finished 23rd overall with a time of 19:32.4. Freshmen Gabe Lara and Matthew Parmley crossed the line shortly after.
Top returners Drevan Anderson-Kaapa and Yonas Tesfai were held from running in the meet to save them for the next meet in September.
"We held out Yonas, so when we run a full team we are going to have a great one-two punch," Magness said. "The rest of the guys really did well. The returners had a solid opening and we had several freshman have great debuts."
Houston finished fifth overall with a score of 114. North Texas was the top team (37) followed by Texas, Baylor and Texas A&M.
Newcomer Amber Hawkins finished the women's 4,000-kilometer run in 23rd with a time of 14:47.3. Returner Selena Sierra crossed the line shortly after at 15:00.4.
The women finished sixth overall with 175 total points. Host team Baylor won the invitational, scoring only 25 points.
UP NEXT
Houston cross country has a week off before competing in the Justin F. Cooper Memorial Rice Invitational Friday, Sept. 14.
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Players Mentioned
