(August 26, 2023) Mena, Arkansas - After a good year of recruiting, Coach Shores and the men's team took the course for their first outside competition of the semester. The Bucks only have two returning runners this season, and they are joined by a host of talent from Arkansas and Texas. 

The men's 8k race had 17 runners compete this morning from UA Rich Mountain, Carl Albert, and National Park. 

A former Buck won the race as an unattached runner, but four Bucks were close behind. The men were led by Angel Cordero (Springdale, AR) with a time of 30:36.3 in second place overall. The Bucks had three other runners that were medalist on the day. Luis Morales (Glenwood, AR) and Brian Monterroza (Fort Smith, AR) were neck-in-neck through the finishing chute. Morales pulled out third place with a 30:49.9, followed by Monterroza with a time of 30:50.3. The final medalist was sophomore Emmanuel Cartagena (Sherman, TX) with a time of 31:14.5.

The rest of the Bucks finished as follows:

7th - Tommy Banks (Houston, TX) - 32:48.8

8th - Yermy Gonzalez (Horatio, AR) - 32:57.6

9th - Desmond Thompson (Fort Smith, AR) - 32:58.9

10th - Montana Wesley (Waldron, AR) - 33:05.5

16th - Preston Dixon (Cove, AR) - 40:26.1

With four runners medaling in the race, the Bucks took home the team title on the day. 

The men return to action next Saturday, September 2nd, at the University of Central Arkansas.

#DefendTheMountain