{"id":8213,"date":"2025-12-08T17:07:35","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T23:07:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/utrgvradio.com\/?p=8213"},"modified":"2025-12-08T17:07:41","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T23:07:41","slug":"senior-leadership-propels-cross-country-team-to-strong-finish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/utrgvradio.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/08\/senior-leadership-propels-cross-country-team-to-strong-finish\/","title":{"rendered":"Senior Leadership Propels Cross Country Team to Strong Finish"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/utrgvradio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Cross-country-1208.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">After finishing as some of the top competitors in the Southland Conference, the men\u2019s and women\u2019s cross country teams finished 21 of 23 and 14 of 24 in the NCAA South Central Regional last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Senior Faith Cruz said it took personal growth and perseverance to succeed this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>\u201cFinishing and overall was a really rewarding moment,\u201d Cruz said. \u201cIt showed me that my hard work and perseverance really mattered.\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Senior Abraham Morales said he faced challenges this season and took a leadership role for the team.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>\u201cThis year, for me personally, this year was different,\u201d Morales said. \u201cI was dealing with a quad injury, but I still chose to race because I wanted to be there for the team and especially to lead the underclassmen at conference and regional. Running a 6K at regionals for the first time is never easy, and it\u2019s a completely different kind of hurt. But I knew my presence mattered, and I wanted to show the younger guys what competing meant.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Highlighting her personal achievements this season, Cruz reflected on the experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>\u201cThis season was really good. For sure, the team dynamics was very, very good. I mean, I practiced with our team, it helped Bill momentum and helped us get through conference at a very good level.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The season concluded with the team placing in the top five at the Southland Conference, with several seniors earning recognition for their individual performances.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After finishing as some of the top competitors in the Southland Conference, the men\u2019s and women\u2019s cross country<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":8215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[61,16,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cross-country","category-edinburg","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Senior Leadership Propels Cross Country Team to Strong Finish - 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