TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Texas A&M will be represented by a pair of individual runners during the NCAA Cross Country Championships this Saturday at the challenging LaVern Gibson Championship Course. Aggie juniors Isaac Spencer and Hillary Montgomery each qualified for the national meet based on their respective finishes during the South Central region meet last weekend.
“These are two Aggie athletes who are starting to leave their mark,” stated Texas A&M assistant coach Wendel McRaven. “Both are juniors who have shown tremendous progress over the last twelve months. This is another opportunity to establish themselves as two of the best Aggie distance runners in recent history.”
There are 31 teams and 38 individuals contesting each of the championship races, with the men set to start at noon (ET) over a 10,000-meter course while the women cover a 6,000-meter course with a start time of 1:15 p.m. (ET). A live stream of the race is available through NCAA.com (http://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule/2013/11/23).
Race conditions on Saturday will include temperatures in the 30s, with gusting winds and a muddy course due to recent rain in the area.
While Montgomery makes her first national appearance, this will be the second trip to the NCAA Championships in cross country for Spencer, who was part of an Aggie team that advanced during his freshman season in 2011. Spencer placed 200th in the 2011 race with a time of 31:47.2, finishing seventh among the A&M squad that included one senior and five juniors.
“We have experienced some great competition this year,” noted McRaven. “Isaac was here two years ago as a wide-eyed freshman and this will be Hillary's first trip here, but they both have seen a level of competition that has prepared them for this meet.”
In the region meet last Friday Spencer lowered his 10,000 meter best to 30:22.4 to place eighth after clocking 31:35.8 in 2012 and 31:39.6 in 2011 during the South Central region races. Spencer is the sixth A&M individual to qualify for the NCAA Championships in cross country since 2000 while the Aggie men have advanced a team to the national meet five times since 1999.
Montgomery was hoping to have teammates from the A&M women's team competing in the race with her this weekend, but the Aggies were not chosen for the 31-team field when 13 at-large selections were made after the nine region meets were completed.
Texas A&M tied SMU for second place in the South Central region, and the Mustangs claimed the automatic entry into the NCAA field with a 4-1 edge in the tie-breaker.
Montgomery is the 11th Aggie female to qualify individually for the national meet since 2002. Texas A&M had a women's team advance in 2000 when they placed 18th. Improving her time at the 6,000-meter distance, Montgomery clocked 20:27.0 to place sixth at the South Central region meet following a 20:39.32 in the SEC Championships for eighth place.
AGGIE WOMEN at NCAA CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
YEAR ATHLETE FINISH TIME
2011 Natosha Rogers 57 20:41.7
2010 Natosha Rogers 164 21:53.1
Tara Upshaw 178 22:03.9
2008 Christina Munoz 46 20:45.9
Elizabeth Slaughter 214 22:07.7
2007 Christina Munoz 183 22:14.1
2006 Meredith Snow 75 21:53.5
2005 Sarah Balfour 125 21:19.4
2002 Melissa Gulli 31 20:29.8
Meredith Crane 106 21:21.4
2000 Texas A&M 18 447 points
Melissa Gulli 22 21:17.2
Andrea Bookout 26 21:19.2
Brooke Edwards 132 22:15.3
Jennifer Whatley 190 22:47.0
Sarah Steadman 191 22:47.3
Kristy Bonn 208 23:03.1
Kayci Waters 213 23:10.3
AGGIE MEN at NCAA CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
YEAR ATHLETE FINISH TIME
2012 Henry Lelei 5 29:14.8
James Hodges 68 30:30.1
2011 Texas A&M 18 471 points
Henry Lelei 9 29:29.1
MacLean O'Donnell 113 30:53.6
Kevin Burnett 151 31:11.9
James Hodges 157 31:17.3
C.J. Brown 172 31:26.0
Stephen Curry 185 31:34.1
Isaac Spencer 200 31:47.2
2009 Joe Sauvageau 131 31:13.6
2008 Texas A&M 30 609 points
Shadrack Songok 22 29:58.9
Mitch Bible 161 31:23.9
Kevin McNab 186 31:34.3
Kevin Ondrasek 191 31:40.8
Joe Sauvageau 192 31:41.3
Kevin Burnett 239 32:39.1
Logan Sherman 251 33:48.2
2006 Brian McKinstry 160 33:09.7
2003 Texas A&M =19 447 points
Tommy Bonn 39 30:14.8
Andrew Cook 50 30:24.1
Brian McKinstry 91 30:49.1
Joe Lanzillotti 185 31:35.2
Matt McLeod 196 31:43.0
Jayme D'Agnolo 206 31:52.1
Jon Lewis 215 32:04.9
2002 Texas A&M 26 569 points
Andrew Cook 39 31:04.2
Jon Lewis 95 31:05.8
Juan De Bastos 144 31:32.6
Brian McKinstry 190 32:03.8
Tommy Bonn 192 32:04.2
Jayme D'Agnolo 199 32:10.5
Joe Lanzilloti 243 33:38.7
2001 Juan De Bastos 55 30:26.0
1999 Texas A&M 22 487 points
Scott Lengefeld 14 30:54.4
Stephen Erath 95 32:02.3
Mike Hummel 139 32:35.9
Carl Stewart 176 33:04.7
Brandon Beasley 184 33:11.6
Tommy Bonn 202 33:29.4
James Darcey 246 35:32.8