WACO - Texas A&M's second meet of the cross country season will have the Aggies racing at the Baylor Invitational amid slightly cooler temperatures on Saturday morning at the Bears Intramural Fields. Race time is 8 a.m. for the women's 4,000-meter race with the men's 6,000-meter race to follow at 8:30 a.m.
In the NCAA South Central rankings A&M men remain third while the Aggie women are currently sixth. Baylor, meanwhile, is third in the women's poll and ninth in the men's region rankings. In their last visit to Waco for the Baylor Open the Texas A&M men won the team competition while the women placed third.
"It's a good chance for some more of the team to shake the rust off and get into a racing situation and work on their racing routine," said assistant coach Wendel McRaven. "This will help in preparation for meets that matter down the line.
"We approach this meet like we do any other meet, we want to compete hard and get something out of it to build for the rest of the season. Since it's a flat course we can talk about certain paces for the race. Plus with the race being multiple loops of the course, we can get good feedback as I get to see them multiple times during the race."
Fielding a team of 30-plus runners, the Aggies will feature more athletes who competed on the conference and region level last season. In addition Henry Lelei will make his debut with A&M.
The 2010 NJCAA champion and 2011 runner-up in the steeplechase while competing for Central Arizona, Lelei sports personal best times of 3:45.58 (1500), 14:13.75 (5000) and 8:50.17 (steeplechase). He also claimed silver medals at the NJCAA in the 1500 (2010) along with bronze medals in the 800 (2011), 1500 (2011), and 5000 (2010).
In cross country Lelei won the 2010 NJCAA title with a time of 23 minutes, 29 seconds, over an 8,000-meter course after placing second in the 2009 race. Lelei enjoyed a 25-second winning margin as Central Arizona placed second and just missed the team title by six points.
Headlining the Aggie women's team is Katherine Devlin, who led A&M in four of its five cross country races a year ago. She will be joined by Sophie Blake, Itzel Cetina, Colbea Harris, Gabby Salazar and Tara Upshaw.
The A&M women's team will also include Shawn Dalglish, Brenna Farren, Grace Fletcher, Johanna Galloway, Kelsey Hermes, Margo Lyons, Kate Mohr, and Hillary Montgomery.
Joining Lelei on the Aggie men's squad this weekend will be an experienced group that includes Will Barry, C.J. Brown, Stephen Curry, Ryan Miller, MacLean O'Donnell, Nathan Parker and James Welin.
The A&M crew will also include Travis Barclay, Jordan Chappell, James Hodges, Neil Longenbaugh, Jake Roberts, Colin Slattery, Isaac Spencer, Dylan Williams and Bobby Zeller.
DIRECTIONS: The Baylor Recreational Sports Field / Intramurals Field are across the street from the Ferrell Center (basketball arena) on the Baylor campus. The address to the Ferrell Center is 1900 South University Parks Drive, Waco, TX
Take Highway 6 all the way to South Loop Drive (which is also Highway 77), make a left on South Loop Drive and the intramural course is on the left hand side of the road after you cross over a bridge. There is a parking lot for the intramural fields.
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NCAA South Central Rankings
Men
1. Arkansas
2. Texas
3. Texas A&M
4. Lamar
5. UTSA
6. McNeese State
7. Stephen F. Austin
8. Rice
9. Baylor
10. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
11. Arkansas-Little Rock
12. Houston
13. UTPA
14. TCU
15. LSU
Women
1. Texas
2. Arkansas
3. Baylor
4. Rice
5. SMU
6. Texas A&M
7. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
8. Stephen F. Austin
9. TCU
10. Houston
11. Lamar
12. UTSA
13. McNeese State
14. Texas State
15. Arkansas State