University of Central Oklahoma

CANYON, Texas (Oct. 24) -- Central Oklahoma received a trio of top-20 finishes in coming in fourth at the Lone Star Conference Cross Country Championships here Saturday.

Midwestern State won its second straight league title with 70 points, three ahead of runner-up Angelo State.  East Central was third in the 11-team field with 92 points, followed by the Bronchos (111) and host West Texas A&M (123).

It was the sixth consecutive top-four finish for UCO, which was led by Evelyn Berko's 11th-place showing while also getting top-20 efforts from Cara Cox (19th) and Angelica Martinez (20th).

"We were pretty consistent, but didn't get the real high finishes that we needed," UCO coach J.D. Martin said.  "I was proud of the way we competed and we'll work hard the next two weeks getting ready for the regional."

Berko toured the 6,000-kilometer course in 24:30.7 in pacing the Bronchos,  while Cox ran a 25:04.0 and Martinez a 25:06.8.

Angel Vick came in 29th in 25:39.2 and Alina Istrate -- a sixth-place finisher in this race last year but hampered by injury that kept her out of UCO's last meet -- was 32nd in 25:42.9  Also running for the Bronchos were Julia Crocker (47th, 26:20.7), Hannah Pempsell (49th, 26:24.4) and Iasha Keller (65th, 27:35.4).

UCO will go to Abilene, Texas on Nov. 7 for the NCAA Division II South Central Regional.