Fuentes gains Nationals berth, Hilltoppers finish 16th at NCAA Regionals
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - St. Edward's senior David Fuentes finished sixth to qualify for the National Championship Meet and the Hilltoppers ended in 16th place as a team Saturday morning in the NCAA South Central Regional Meet at Live Oak City Park.
Fuentes, who qualified for the Nationals last season, finished in sixth place behind four runners from team champion Abilene Christian and Texas A&M-Commerce's Tyler Tindall. The Boerne, Texas native finished with a time of 31:23. Both Fuentes and Tindall were the only individuals to qualify for Nationals.
St. Edward's (464) finished in 16th as a team. Other competitors from the Heartland Conference were Incarnate Word (341) who finished 13th, Dallas Baptist (481) who finished 18th, Newman (520) who finished 20th, Texas A&M-International (627) who finished 21st, and UT-Permian Basin (670) who finished 22nd.
Other individuals for the Hilltoppers included junior Cody Beamon (34:49) who finished 95th and sophomore Alex Gay (35:14) who ended 99th. Junior Julio Vazquez (37:12) ended 126th, while senior Ben Palmer (38:39) finished 138th.
Fuentes will be back in action November 22, when he takes part in the NCAA Division II National Championship. The meet will be held in Slippery Rock, Penn. The meet will begin at Noon EST at Cooper's Lake Campground.