Oct. 18, 2005

SAN MARCOS - For the second consecutive week, Texas State's James Ortiz has been named the Aeropostale Southland Conference Cross Country Athlete of the Week. He receives the honor after helping the Bobcats to a first place finish at Rice University's Buffalo Bayou Invitational.

Oritz, a senior from Uvalde, Texas (Uvalde HS), won the individual title at the Buffalo Bayou Invitational. He posted an 8,000-meter time of 25:43.61, finishing before teammates Javier Prado, Alex Escontrias and Francisco Elizalde who rounded out the top four.

Last week, Ortiz posted a first place finish at Texas State's second home meet. He crossed the finish line at the Bobcat Classic in 25:41.00 and led the Bobcats to a first place team finish last weekend, as well.

After the cross country season, Ortiz will represent the Bobcat track and field program. He holds Texas State's record in the 1500-meter (3:48.35).

UTSA's Rita Lambert earned the women's weekly honor, posting a 5K time of 18:08.20 at the Invitational. She held off Texas State's Tenley Determan (18:19.34) for first place.

The `Cats will be in action next weekend at the UTSA Short Course before running in the Southland Conference meet on Oct. 31.