Mthembu was the silver medalist and earned a spot on the NCAA South Central All-Region Team  after completing  the 10-kilometer course at the Cottonwood Creek with a time of 30:11.1. His time was just seven-tenths of a second behind the winner, Haftu Knight of Texas, who finished the race in 30:10.4.
 
Mthembu was the top individual finisher not on the top two teams at the regional to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Texas won the event with 35 points, finishing four-points ahead of Arkansas.
 
Friday's race was Mthembu's third top five finish. He earned All-Regional honors after being named the Sun Belt Conference Newcomer-of-the-Year and a First-Team All-Sun Belt selection earlier this year. He placed third at the Sun Belt Conference Championships and fifth in the John McDonnell Memorial Race at the Arkansas Chile Pepper Festival.
 
Texas State finished 12th in the team standings with 332 points  in its first 10K run of the season. In addition to Mthembu's second-place finish, Justin Botello, who had a time of 33:13.6 to finish in 76th place. Pedro Osorio Lopez finished 80th with a time of 33:17.5. Texas State's other competitors were Dylan Pitts (33:58.4), Travian Holst (34:07.1), Nicholas Mosqueda (34:58.3), and A.J. Tyler (35:34.6).
 
The women's team finished 23rd with 642 points. The top two teams for the women were Arkansas and Rice.
 
Freshman Megan Ombres was the top runner for Texas State, finishing with a time of 23:27.1 in the six-kilometer race. Aubrey Schmidt had a time of 24:09.5, while Daniela Wisniewski completed the course in 24:36.3. Jessica Myers had a time of 24:50.3 , Michelle Wisniewski finished in 26:02.0, and Olivia Johnson had a time of 26:11.7.
 
NEXT MEET
The NCAA Cross Country Selection Show will be streamed on the NCAA.com website  at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 13. The NCAA Championships are next Saturday, Nov. 20, at the Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla.