Blaring horns and cheering crowds marked the scene of Texas A&M International University’s first annual Dual Cross Country Invitational on Sept. 4. Participating schools included Shriner and Texas A&M Kingsville as well as local and area high schools. Before running in the men’s division, Robert Coronado, a junior, described his preparation.While wearing an iPod bud in his ear, Coronado advocated doing “everything you can to get in your concentration bubble. Block everything negative out, and don’t think about competitors because you might bring yourself down.”Coronado went on to say that during summer, players ran individually and began practicing as a team on the first day of school. He said the purpose of all the running is to “build up your endurance so you can withstand distances.”Surrounded by laptops at the event’s command center, Benny Rodriguez, Head Cross County Coach of the Dustdevils, said that in order to prepare for their meets, his athletes did a lot “of distance running. 60-80 miles a week.” He also added that as part of the preparation for this event, Captain Jaime Rios of the University Police department assisted with the set up of the running course to ensure a safe route for all.After her race, junior Jenny Mendez “felt energized.” Earlier, she coped with her butterflies before battle by listening to a playlist on her iPod titled “Running Time.” She claims that almost all the running her teams does is in between matches. “Long runs of five miles prepare us for the three miles we run during a race,” Mendez said. A black inflatable arch and the encouraging yells of teammates greeted runners at the end of the course. Once the university races were over, the TAMIU athletes stayed behind and helped Coach Rodriguez run the tournament by doing duties such as clocking in the high school runners as they finished their races. The top three finishers for the men were the following: Kiya Panderna (Texas A&M- Kingsville) clocking in at 17:02, Mike Equiga (TAMIU alumni) coming in at 17:19, and Luis Beltran (TAMIU) with a time of 17:29.Among the women, the top three finishes were Marlena Gutierrez (TAMIU) with a time of 19:25, Rowana Terviño (Independent runner) with a time of 21:19, and Amanda Salinas (TAMIU) clocking in at 22:07.