COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Graduate student BEN BAYLY shook off the rust from missing the previous cross-country season due to injury by leading the Hilltoppers as the first NCAA Division II runner to cross the finish line at Friday's Texas A&M Invitational.
Competing in his first cross-country race as a Hilltopper, Bayly completed the 8K course in 25:23.9 to finish 28th overall in a field of 132 runners, leading St. Edward's to an 11th-place finish in a field of mostly Division I competition.
Although Bayly's fall cross-country and outdoor track seasons were derailed by injuries last year, he demonstrated his potential by breaking the St. Edward's indoor 5,000-meter record with a time of 14:49.40 at the Gorilla Classic.
Bayly's time is just 12.2 seconds off all-conference returner ARLO GONZALES's personal mark set at last year's Texas A&M Invitational, teasing a potent 1-2 punch when Gonzales returns from injury later this season.
"He's a guy that's under a lot of people's radars, and getting him back is going to help us a lot," head coach Chase Rathke said before the season. "He was the fastest 5K guy we had during the indoor season by a pretty good margin."
Sophomore JAVI RAMIREZ was the second Hilltopper to cross the finish line, finishing 55th in a personal-best 26:07.5, followed by senior WILLIAM SULENTICH in 26:42.0 to place 75th. Freshmen Calab Kyburz and Benjamin Macias completed the scoring five in their first collegiate 8K races. Kyburz placed 78th in 26:46.9, followed by Macias in 84th at 27:03.5.
The Hilltoppers scored 291 points, finishing five behind Division I Louisiana and 19 ahead of Sam Houston. St. Edward's also finished ahead of Division I Prairie View A&M and Lone Star Conference opponent UT Dallas, which was voted one place ahead of the Hilltoppers at seventh in the LSC Preseason Polls.
Junior HOGAN HEIKKINEN placed 90th with a time of 27:16.7 in his own return after missing last season, while PARKER STEVENS finished 104th in 27:40.7. Freshman Anthony Gonzales rounded out the lineup at 27:51.0 to place 107th.
Bayly created separation at the front of the Hilltopper lineup, while only 56 seconds separated Ramirez from Macias across the remaining four scoring positions. The performance provided St. Edward's large freshman class with its first experience racing the collegiate championship distance after opening the season with a 5K at Floyd Farms.
Stephen F. Austin placed five runners among the top 17 to win the meet with 39 points. Texas finished second with 58, followed by TCU at 72.
St. Edward's will have three weeks to train before splitting its roster for two meets on Oct. 3. The Hilltoppers' top group will travel to Arkansas for the Chile Pepper Festival, while the program's depth runners compete at the Southwestern Showdown in Georgetown, Texas.
