Cross Country | 11/1/2015 9:10:00 PM

ATLANTA – Texas State Cross Country traveled to Atlanta for the Sun Belt Conference Championships this weekend. The men finished fifth behind the leadership of Jose Angel Gonzalez while the women finished ninth with Devina Schneider leading the way.
 
"The meet went well. We showed some competitiveness, which is good," said Cross Country Coach Bill Robertson. "We definitely learned a lot, which is good moving forward."
 
The men showed vast improvement throughout the season. After being chosen to finish seventh in the preseason, the Bobcats moved up two spots at the SBC Championships.
 
Gonzalez led the squad with a 12^th-place finishing time of 26:12.6 in the 8K race. He worked his way as high as sixth place in the second kilometer. Joining him in the top 15 was Schneider on the women's side. She took 13^th place with a time of 18:54.2 in the women's 5K race.
 
"That was great. They've been leaders all year, and they're both very talented," said Robertson. "They fought hard today. I'm proud of both of them. They're young too so I think there's a lot of upside to it, to what they can still do later."
 
For the men, after Gonzalez was Joseph Meade in 17^th place (26:34.2). Senior leader Joseph Pena was next to finish for the Bobcats with a time of 26:43.8 in 23^rd place, followed by Alec Saucedo (26:52.2) and Logan Pittdman (26:53.3) back-to-back in 29^th and 30^th. Jordan Janer (28:14.3) and Kyle Denomme (28:46.2) rounded out the group for the men.
 
After Schneider on the women's side, was Nikki Sanchez in 30^th place. She finished with a time of 19:46.2. Gabriela Ortegon wasn't far behind in 36^th place at 19:59.4. After her, Belinda Aguilar (20:35.0), Sarah Arroyo (21:28.5) and Chelsea Thompson (21:39.5) finished.