RACE PREVIEW: Texas A&M Invitational

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Aggie cross country teams host the Texas A&M Invitational on Friday September 15 at the Dale Watts Cross Country Course. The gun goes off at 8 a.m. for the men’s 8k race, followed by the women running the 5k course at 8:45 a.m.

The Maroon & White look to defend their team titles from last year’s Texas A&M Invitational, where the men’s team claimed first with a score of 17 points, while the women followed suit to win with 29 points. Eric Casarez was the Aggie men’s top finisher last year as he won the race in a time of 23:47.70, on the women’s side, the highest placed returner was Maddie Livingston who finished seventh in a time of 18:13.00.

The men started strong this season winning the team title at the John McKenzie Invitational. Junior Jonathan Chung led the group as the top finisher at 14:50.70, while the team recorded a perfect score. Freshman Jack Johnston finished runner-up with a personal best time of 14:51.60 earning him an SEC Men’s Freshman of the Week honor. Other top-five finishers included Aiden Gonzalez-Rodiles in third, Joseph Benn in fourth and Zack Munger in fifth.

The women’s team secured four of the top five finishes to claim the women’s team title. Maddie Livingston led the women’s team with a personal-best time of 17:10.20, for a second-place finish. Other notable performances included Madison Brown in third, Kennady Fontenot in fourth, Shewaye Johnson in fifth and Emma Little in seventh.

13 women’s and 12 men’s teams will make the trip to enter the meet including, Abilene Christian, Baylor (women), Dallas Baptist, Houston, North Texas, Oklahoma Baptist, Oklahoma City, Sam Houston State, Texas A&M-Commerce, Tarleton State, TCU, UTA and UT-Tyler.  

Source : Texas A&M