The Aggie women finished runner-up to Arkansas a year ago while the A&M men placed eighth. It was the highest conference finish ever recorded in cross country by a women's team in the history of the Texas A&M program. During the Aggies first SEC Championship race in 2012 the men tied for third while the women placed eighth.
“The conference meets are always special,” stated Texas A&M assistant coach Wendel McRaven. “There is a lot of pride on the line. We're proud to be part of the SEC and it's always fun to go battle the teams that are in your conference. We all want to beat one another on race day at the SEC meet, then when we go to our separate region meets we're supportive of each other.”
The Razorbacks are favored to defend the SEC men's and women's team titles as both enter the meet as the highest nationally ranked squads. Arkansas women are No. 5 and the men are No. 23 in the national rankings. Vanderbilt joins the Razorbacks in the women's poll with a No. 14 national ranking while the Mississippi men are receiving votes for the top 30 poll.
Leading the Aggie women are seniors Hillary Montgomery and Grace Fletcher along with sophomore Karis Jochen. Last season Montgomery and Jochen earned All-SEC second team honors while Jochen also earned a spot on the All-SEC freshman team.
Over the 6k distance this season the A&M trio rank among the top 10 versus other SEC runners with Montgomery third best (20:17), Fletcher sixth (20:28) and Jochen eighth (20:38).
Leading the conference is defending SEC individual champion Dominique Scott of Arkansas (19:54) and her teammate Grace Heysmfield (19:56). Others among the top 10 include Rhianwedd Price of Mississippi State (20:17), Florida's duo of Lauren Brasure (20:27) and Taylor Tubbs (20:37), as well as Vanderbilt's Carmen Carlos (20:40).
Montgomery finished eighth in the conference race in 2013 as Jochen placed 13th and Fletcher was 19th. Senior Johanna Galloway finished as the eighth A&M runner in the SEC meet last season. Making their debut in the conference meet this week for the Aggies are Ashley Chamberlain, Laura Craig, Haley Deakins, Melanie Enriquez and Katie Pia.
“I think we have three runners who can battle in the front of the pack,” noted McRaven. “That's exciting, especially coming off their recent performance in Wisconsin. They provide us with great leadership.
“If our fourth and fifth runners can step up a little bit we can do some pretty good things. I'm excited about the opportunity and to see where we stand. This is the time of the season where we tend to start running better.”
Senior Isaac Spencer, who earned All-SEC second team honors last season, leads the A&M men's team along with sophomore Cameron Villarreal, who was part of the All-SEC freshman team last year. Spencer placed 14th in the 2013 race while Villarreal finished 28th.
Also returning from the men's race a year ago for the Aggies are seniors Austin Geerts and Ryan Miller along with sophomores Ryan Teel and Austin Wells. Senior Colin Slattery ran in the 2012 SEC race, finishing as the sixth runner for the Aggies. Making their debut in the conference meet are Christian Farris and Elliott Farris.
“We feel like we need to make amends for last year on the men's side,” said McRaven. “We're better than what we indicated a year ago. In the spring of last season we showed we have some young guys who can run with anybody in the SEC. This is an opportunity for us to prove that.”
While Spencer placed second in the steeplechase and ninth in the 5,000 meters at the SEC Outdoor Championships last spring Wells placed third in the 10,000 meters and Villarreal finished fourth in the 5,000 meters.
Leading the conference this season over the men's 8k distance is Auburn's Ty McCormack (23:52) and Arkansas's Stanley Kebenei (23:53), the SEC runner-up last season.
TEXAS A&M – SEC CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
2013: Women 2nd, Men 8th
Aggie women – 123 points
8. Hillary Montgomery 20:39.4
13. Karis Jochen 20:53.9
19. Grace Fletcher 21:10.9
41. Sophie Blake 21:44.9
44. Amanda Jenkins 21:47.4
64. Katie Willard 22:12.8
69. Gabby Salazar 22:18.1
85. Johanna Galloway 22:53.0
Aggie men - 187 points
14. Isaac Spencer 24:22.6
28. Cameron Villarreal 24:55.1
46. Xavier Jimenez 25:23.5
47. Austin Geerts 25:29.4
54. Ryan Teel 25:35.8
55. Austin Wells 25:36.8
56. Ryan Miller 25:37.2
64. Micah Dettmer 25:46.8
65. Colin Stoeber 25:48.8
101. Jake Roberts 27:07.8
2012: Men =3rd, Women 8th
Aggie men – 80 points
1. Henry Lelei 23:30.0
15. James Hodges 24:19.3
17. Isaac Spencer 24:24.7
18. Stephen Curry 24:25.9
29. C.J. Brown 24:45.9
45. Colin Slattery 25:15.0
48. Micah Dettmer 25:20.1
67. MacLean O'Donnell 25:38.9
80. Jake Hervey 26:01.1
86. Bobby Zeller 26:13.1
Aggie women – 224 points
36. Amanda Jenkins 21:36.1
41. Hillary Montgomery 21:40.2
42. Gabby Salazar 21:41.5
48. Shawn Dalglish 21:47.9
60. Sophie Blake 22:02.4
71. Tara Upshaw 22:12.1
72. Grace Fletcher 22:13.6
99. Heather Sterling 22:53.3