Complete Results

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas sophomore Destiny Collins got her second win in as many races to open the cross country season and the men's team dominated the Texas Invitational on Thursday night as the Longhorns showcased their depth with team wins on both sides.

Collins rolled to her win in 13:42.60 over the 4,000 meters for the women. She dominated the field, pulling away again at the midway point. Her closest competitor finished more than 30 seconds behind her. The Texas women scored 23 points to get the win with Texas Tech finishing second with 56 points.

Coach Brad Herbster said he was happy with how Collins ran to get another win.

"Destiny ran a really good race, ran a smart race. She executed. We talked about having a certain point in the race where she just kind of left it and she really did a nice job of just executing and going with it," Herbster said. "She was kind of alone out there for most of the race. So to be able to run that way, and still be able to win in a big fashion is always good."

On the men's side the trio of Connor O'Neill , Alex Rogers and Sam Worley crossed the finish line together with horns held high for the home crowd. Charles Mills and John Rice followed just a few seconds behind to give the men a perfect score of 15 points in the dominant win.

Texas and a pair of fellow Big 12 Conference teams, Texas Tech and TCU, got their first taste of the course the conference championship will be hosted on in late October. The course at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock. Rogers said it was a good chance to get on the course and see how the team could work together on it.

"It was a really great opportunity with all the guys. We just wanted to go and preview the course and run together as a team," Rogers said. "We really just wanted to get one through five, check out what we were doing, and just stay together as a pack because that's what it's going to take to win Big 12. So that's really what we were looking for out there."

Texas heads to Notre Dame in two weeks for the Joe Piane Invitational. Collins said she was pleased with her performance and is looking forward to the rest of the season as she believes Texas can make an impact at the bigger meets ahead on the schedule.

"I'm feeling really good, I think it's going to be a really good season," Collins said. "I think we have a little work to do but I think that we're going to do really well come the end of the season."

Texas Invitational Team Scores

Women (4k)

1: Texas, 23

2: Texas Tech, 56

3: TCU, 57

4: UTSA, 112

5: Prairie View A&M, 164

6: Ouachita Baptist, 174

7: Texas Southern, 212

Men (6k)

1: Texas, 15

2: Texas Tech, 50

3: UTSA, 84

4: TCU, 128

5: Prairie View A&M, 134

Texas Quotes

Cross Country Coach Brad Herbster

On the women's race: Our women as a team and as a group, we've got to tighten it up. We didn't taper or anything this week for this meet.

On the course: We just wanted to come out and get a feel for the course. It is their first time seeing the course, so it's really important as we go into Big 12 to preview it and know where the nuances are. I think it's a pretty straightforward course. Learning the course overall for Big 12 is a big deal and the team, we've just got to tighten it up.

On the men's race: Connor O'Neill ran a great race. You've got Connor, you've got Sam (Worley), you've got Alex (Rogers) so it'll be fun at Notre Dame to really kind of open it up. I thought that John Rice and Charles Mills ran well. It's just kind of came off at the end. So we've got to make sure that it's 8k from here on out and 10k. So we've got to make sure that we're being tough and working together, working as a unit all the way through and really executing not just part of the race plan but the entire race plan.

Sophomore Alex Rogers

On shaking off just in the first race of the season: It was different than what I imagined, but no big deal. It was a rust-buster for all of us and I really think showing the one-through-five and just the really small spread that we had showed our toughness when it come out to it. So I think that myself, Connor, and Sam, we were itching at the nub to really kind of show what we could all do. But it was more of a team thing and the fact that we finished one-through-three, all within milliseconds of each other. And then John and Chuck. It was a great day and a great rust-buster.

Sophomore Destiny Collins

On her mentality going into the race on the Big 12 Championships course: I just wanted to get a good feel for it and just test my boundaries and get ready for Notre Dame in two weeks.

On feeling comfortable during the race: Yeah I feel comfortable, it feels like a really good course. It'll be a little longer for Big 12's but I'll still be looking forward to it. I think that it's going to be really good.