COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS – UT Tyler cross country wrapped up the Texas A&M Invitational on Saturday morning with both the men's and women's teams placing seventh in a competitive field.

On the men's side, the Patriots totaled 177 points to finish seventh overall, improving drastically from last year's 12th-place finish with 301 points. Junior David Soto once again paced the squad, placing 14th overall with a time of 24:21.9 in the 8K to score 13 points. Soto held a top-20 position throughout the race, checking in at 18th at the 2K split and 11th at the 5.7K mark.

Freshman Grayson Williams was next across the line, finishing 16th overall with a time of 24:27.3 and earning 15 points. He was followed by junior Austin Ponder in 52nd (25:25.5, 46 points) and freshman Isaiah Colorado in 55th (25:29.0, 49 points). Sophomore Chris Kopecky rounded out the scoring with a 64th-place finish in 25:39.5 to add 54 points. As a team, UT Tyler finished just 17 points behind Lone Star Conference rival DBU and 105 points ahead of St. Edward's.

The Patriot women also turned in a seventh-place team finish, collecting 252 points — nearly 100 points better than their 350-point performance at the same meet a year ago. They also finished ahead of conference opponents DBU and St. Edward's. Sophomore Macy Cogburn led the way with a 35th-place finish, clocking 18:30.3 in the 5K for 31 points. Her time was 10 seconds faster than last season and 11 places higher.

Returner Gracie Ladner was the second Patriot across the line, taking 49th in 18:50.1 (44 points), a significant improvement from last year's 19:32.3. Freshman Adison Richard followed close behind in 53rd at 18:53.5 (46 points), while junior Finley Hunting placed 75th in 19:23.8 (62 points). Sophomore Giselle Alejandro secured the final scoring spot, finishing 87th in 19:38.4 for 69 points.

The Patriots will now take a weekend off before returning to action at the OSU Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on September 26.