Patriot runners finish second

Patriot runner Jeff Chandler of Longview finished fifth place in Saturdays's UT Tyler Invitational Cross Country meet. Photo by Adrian Hugon.

Jessica Waninger and Jeff Chandler led the Patriots men's and women's cross country teams to second place finishes at the UT Tyler Invitational on Saturday morning.

The men's team scored 55 points, 16 behind winner Lon Morris College. Jeff Chandler finished fifth overall, running the 8K race in 27:27. Mark Saroni came next for the Patriots, finishing 14th. Joncary Faubien placed 15th. Ford Noack took 16th and Nicklas Huff finished 20th for the Patriots.

Lon Morris runners Eddy Rojo, Jose Leos and LaQuadium Forman finished seventh through ninth to lead the first place team.

American Southwest Conference members University of the Ozarks finished third overall with 69 points, Mississippi College finished fifth and UT Dallas took home sixth.

The men's team finished sixth in their first race of the season at the Bear Twlight Invitational in Waco on Sept. 3.

The Patriots' women's team accumulated 67 in the race, trailing Lon Morris by 12 points.

Waninger placed second overall in the women's 6K run for the Patriots, finishing one second behind Jessica Rivera who ran unattached.

"I'm surprised I did this well," Waninger said. "I stayed in the front of the pack for most of the race and stayed in third. The last half mile I took off and moved into second."

Waninger's time of 24:17.19 missed her own school record by less than a second. Missy Hebert, a freshman from Hudson, took seventh with a time of 25:40.8. Sara Hankla finished 12th, running the race in 26:13.19.

Mississippi College finished third overall with 101 points. Fellow ASC team Texas Lutheran took fifth with 135 points.

Coach Bob Hepler said for most of the women, this was their first 6K race.

The women's team finished ninth in their first race of the season at the Bear Twlight Invitational in Waco on Sept. 3.

The men's and women's next meet is scheduled for Sept. 25 in Seguin for the Texas Div. III Championship.