Benny Rodriguez is in his
21st season as the head men's and women's cross country coach at Texas A&M International University in 2026. Rodriguez took over both programs in
2005 and has led the Dustdevils through the NAIA Red River Athletic Conference era and into NCAA Division II competition in the Heartland and Lone Star Conferences.
During more than two decades leading the program, Rodriguez has coached student-athletes to
at least 47 All-Conference honors, along with multiple NCAA Division II All-South Central Region selections, conference champions, conference Freshman and Runner of the Year recipients, NCAA national qualifiers and an NCAA Division II All-American.
2025 – A Historic Season
The 2025 season produced one of the greatest individual performances in TAMIU cross country history.
Freshman
Ian Rono captured the
Lone Star Conference Men's Cross Country Championship, becoming the first TAMIU men's runner to win an LSC individual cross country championship.
Rono continued his historic season by finishing
fourth at the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Championships in 30:13.8, earning All-Region honors and advancing to the NCAA Division II National Championships.
At the NCAA Championships, Rono finished
11th in the nation in 30:02.8, earning
USTFCCCA All-America honors. He was the highest-finishing freshman in the championship field and was later named the
Lone Star Conference Men's Runner of the Year.
On the women's side, freshman
Fancy Jelagat finished 15th at the Lone Star Conference Championships to earn All-Conference recognition.
Building a Program
Rodriguez took over TAMIU's men's and women's cross country programs in 2005. In his first season, Eddie Gonzalez, Mark Vela and Anetra Matthews earned All-Red River Athletic Conference honors and advanced to the NAIA National Championships.
As TAMIU transitioned to NCAA Division II, Rodriguez continued building the program into a conference and regional competitor.
One of the program's breakthrough seasons came in
2011, when the men's team finished runner-up at the Heartland Conference Championships and the women placed third. Roger Rueweler finished fourth individually, Daniel Alfaro earned Heartland Conference Freshman of the Year honors and Crystal Dickinson placed fifth to earn All-Conference honors.
The Rebekah Hernandez Era
Rodriguez coached one of the most decorated runners in TAMIU history in
Rebekah Hernandez.
Hernandez was a
four-time All-Heartland Conference performer, three-time NCAA Division II South Central All-Region selection and two-time NCAA Division II National Championships qualifier.
As a freshman in 2014, Hernandez captured the
Heartland Conference individual championship and was named both the
Heartland Conference Freshman of the Year and Runner of the Year. She earned First Team All-Conference and All-South Central Region honors before becoming the first TAMIU NCAA Division II cross country athlete to qualify for the national championship.
She returned to the NCAA Championships as a senior in 2017 after placing ninth at the South Central Regional Championships and earning All-Region honors for the third time in her career.
Team Success
The TAMIU women's program finished
runner-up in the Heartland Conference in 2015 and placed
third in 2018, when Renee Contreras, Karla Resendez and Abril Escamilla earned First Team All-Conference honors.
On the men's side in 2018, Eugene Garza earned First Team All-Heartland Conference recognition while Nicholas Martinez earned Second Team honors, giving Rodriguez five All-Conference performers that season.
In
2021, the women's team finished
third at the Lone Star Conference Championships and followed that performance by finishing
12th at the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Championships, the best regional team finish in program history at the time.
The men finished fifth at the 2021 Lone Star Conference Championships and followed with a 20th-place NCAA South Central Regional finish.
The men's program continued its rise with a
fourth-place finish at the 2024 Lone Star Conference Championships.
Coaching Career Highlights
Through the conclusion of the 2025 season, Rodriguez's TAMIU career includes:
- 20 completed seasons as head coach through 2025
- 21st season in 2026
- At least 47 All-Conference honor occurrences
- Conference individual champions in multiple eras
- Conference Runner of the Year honors
- Conference Freshman of the Year honors
- Multiple NCAA Division II All-South Central Region selections
- Multiple NCAA Division II National Championships qualifiers
- USTFCCCA NCAA Division II All-American
- 2025 NCAA Division II 11th-place national finisher
- Heartland Conference men's team runner-up
- Heartland Conference women's team runner-up
- Multiple conference top-three and top-five team finishes
- TAMIU women's best NCAA South Central Regional team finish
- TAMIU men's top-four Lone Star Conference team finish
Athletic Background
Before entering coaching, Rodriguez was a standout runner at
J.W. Nixon High School in Laredo. As a senior, he led the Mustangs to a district championship while capturing the individual district title and later qualifying for the state meet.
Rodriguez continued his running career at
Texas A&M University-Kingsville, where he became a
two-time All-Lone Star Conference performer. He graduated from TAMUK in 2000 with a degree in Kinesiology.
He began his coaching career at United Middle School in 2000 before moving to Memorial Middle School in 2002, where he coached track & field, football and basketball.
In 2005, Rodriguez took over the men's and women's cross country programs at Texas A&M International University. More than two decades later, he remains the head coach of both programs and has helped guide TAMIU cross country from its NAIA beginnings through its transition into NCAA Division II and the Lone Star Conference.
Rodriguez and his wife, Melina, reside in Laredo and are the proud parents of their daughters, Alexa and Milani.
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