Martinez paces Wave at Saints Twilight Invite

CHANNAHON, Ill. – Hector Martinez (SO/Berwyn, Ill.) paced the Calumet College of St. Joseph (Ind.) men's cross country team at the season opener, finishing the Saints Twilight Invite in 16:44.5 to take 37th place in the highly competitive 147 runner field. Martinez and the Wave, who went head- to-head with three teams ranked in the top-15 in the NAIA and NCAA Division III, finished ninth overall at the 5k race hosted by the University of St. Francis (Ill.) at the Channahon Community Park.

MEET INFORMATION

Saints Twilight Invite

Location: Channahon Community Park – Channahon, Illinois

Race Distance: 5k

Total Runners: 147

TEAM RESULTS (NAIA Coaches Top-25 Ranking):

1. University of Chicago – 27
2. No. 9 Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.) – 49
3. No. 3 University of St. Francis (Ill.) – 96
4. Trinity Christian College (Ill.) – 165
5. Aurora University (Ill.) – 185
6. St. Ambrose University (Iowa) – 211
7. Cardinal Stritch University (Wis.) – 226
8. Benedictine University (Ill.) – 257
9. Calumet College of St. Joseph (Ind.) – 276
10. Joliet Junior College (Ill.) – 303
11. Judson University (Ill.) – 345
12. Governors State University (Ill.) – 374

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES:

• Hector Martinez – 16:44.5 (37^th place)
• Anthony DelValle (JR/Hammond, Ind.) – 17:46.0 (51^st place)
• Addison Barnhill (JR) – 18:29.9 (60^th place)
• Rakeem Bluitt (SR/East Chicago, Ind.) – 18:44.0 (62^nd place)
• Ahmed Hamed (SO/East Chicago, Ind.) – 18:57.6 (66^th place)
• Emanual Rogers (FR) – 19:48.3 (73^rd place)
• Travielle Gibbs (FR) – 19:48.3 (82^nd place)
• Tre Gibson (JR/Gary, Ind.) – 22:03.7

COACH'S PERSPECTIVE

"Hector, Anthony, Ahmed, Travielle and Addison all ran 5k personal bests. Overall I thnk we could hve run a little better, but I challenged the guys to be aggressive and the responded. They went out little harder than what the goal times were, but still managed to hold things together. Looking forward to next week, our first 8k of the year." - Jonathan Jimenez, Head Coach

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Wave will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 7 at the Calvin Knight Invite hosted by Calvin College (Mich.). The men's race is scheduled to start at 10:45 a.m. (ET) at the Gainey Athletic Complex on Calvin's campus in Grand Rapids, Michigan.