Former UT, Lake Travis runner illegally ran in UIL state championship
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Runner Brendan Hebert finished second in the 2022 6A UIL cross country state meet Friday, wearing a Lake Travis jersey. But his finish was quickly disqualified because he graduated from high school in 2018, as reported by MileSplit USA.
The former Lake Travis High School and University of Texas at Austin runner told MileSplit USA, a high school track and field/cross country network, "I just ran it for fun."
In a statement to KXAN, UIL said "an unauthorized runner" ran in the race, but a spokesperson did not provide the runner's name.
An unauthorized runner participated in the UIL 6A Boys Cross Country State Meet on November 4, 2022. He was immediately asked to leave the premises and was not awarded any recognition for his illegitimate participation in the race. At this time, we have no further comment.
University Interscholastic League spokesperson
Lake Travis ISD said they were notified of Hebert's involvement in the state meet on Friday. A spokesperson confirmed that he graduated from Lake Travis HS in 2018 and participated in cross country for four years.
UT’s Track & Field/Cross Country roster shows Hebert was a distance runner from 2018-19 through 2021-22. He was a senior in 2022 and received 2022 Academic All-Big 12 honors on the men’s second team.
The championship races happened in Round Rock at Old Settler’s Park on Nov. 4-5.
Final 6A boys race results show Kevin Sanchez from Vandegrift High School in first, Jack Boyd from Klein Oak (Spring) in second and Oliver Maldonado from Humble Atascocita in third place.
The Vandegrift boys team finished second and the Vandegrift girls team finished fourth in the overall 6A team competition.
KXAN requested a comment from the University of Texas at Austin Athletics. This article will be updated if a response is received.