ROUND ROCK, Texas – Rick Platas and Bianca Bagwell led the way, each recording top-10 finishes as the Concordia Texas Cross Country team opened its season at the Tornado Watch Invitational on Wednesday at Old Settlers Park.

Platas and Bagwell are their team's top respective returner in 2021 and both were named American Southwest Conference Runners to Watch in the preseason.

On the men's side, Platas, the junior out of Premont, Texas, lived up to the expectations in the first meet of the year, finishing the 5K race with a personal-best time of 16:49.6 and placing eighth overall.

The time is also fourth-best recorded 5K time in school history, besting Dylan Zoch's time back in 2015.

On the women's side, Bagwell, coming off an All-ASC freshman campaign, began her second year on the right foot, taking ninth in the 5K race with a time of 21:04.

In the men's race, the Tornados as a team finished second in the team standings and were the top D-III team with a score of 54.

Newcomer Jeremy Longoria was the second CTX runner to cross the finish line, taking 11th in the race with a time of 17:38.3, followed closely by teammate Daniel Bizima, who placed 12th with a time of 17:54.8.

Sam Stewart, Jacob Ismir and Kamron Loaera finished together in 14th, 15th and 16th with times of 18:02.8, 18:09.5 and 18:10.6, respectively.

Nathan Luevano rounded out the team's top seven times, crossing the finish line with a time of 18:46.5 to place 18th overall in the race.

In the women's race, following Bagwell, junior Kristine Regalado was the next Tornado to finish, placing 27th overall with a time of 26:26.0.

Meanwhile, senior Meghan Kevil was not far behind her teammate, finishing 29th overall in the race with a time of 27:34.2.

Lauren Rekward, Anna McCardic and Sophia West concluded CTX's day, running times of 32:01.1, 32:07.0 and 32:13.8, respectively.

The Tornados will have a short break before returning to competition on Sept. 10 when they will travel to Houston for the Rice Invitational. The meet will begin with the women's race at 6:15 p.m., followed by the men's race at 6:45 p.m.