Texas A&M
Texas A&M Invitational
Aggie men win team title at home meet, A&M women claim top three spots
Sep 20, 2014 | Cross Country
COLLEGE STATION – Aggie senior Isaac Spencer claimed the individual title during the Texas A&M Invitational at the new Watts Cross Country course on Saturday morning as the A&M men claimed the team title with a two-point edge over Lamar.
In the women's race the top three finishers were wearing maroon and white uniforms with the A&M tandem of seniors Hillary Montgomery and Grace Fletcher along with sophomore Karis Jochen. The Aggie women placed third in team scoring behind Lamar and Baylor.
Spencer posted a time of 18 minutes, 17.5 seconds on the muddy and wet course that covered 6,000 meters. He bettered the field by over five seconds with a strong charge in the final 400 meters in capturing the victory over Evans Tuitoek of Texas Tech (18:23.2) and Philipp Baar (18:24.8) of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
“I planned where I wanted to make my move,” explained Spencer. “I know the finishing straightaway is 800m long, so I knew with 400m left I could go from there with my kick. Once I passed the Texas Tech runner I really wanted to blow by him. That way he wouldn't have time to recover and make a move to catch me.
“I thought about winning the race, but wasn't really focused on it. I wanted to focus more on what I planned to do during the race. But coming out on top, now I'm happy I did win.”
Montgomery covered the women's 4,100-meter course in 13:44.7 and also enjoyed a near five second lead over teammate Fletcher, who clocked 13:49.5 as the runner-up. Jochen finished third with a time of 13:53.7 while the rest of the field was another nine-plus seconds behind her.
“Those three are really at another level this season,” Texas A&M assistant coach Wendel McRaven said. “It's really cool to see. They are fit and strong. They are going to run well, but will need to manage themselves throughout the entirety of the season.”
Montgomery noted: “All three of us have been really training hard together. Each workout all three of are finishing together. Coach McRaven has told us to work together up front as much as possible. In bigger meets that will be a huge advantage in having all of us finish that close together.
“I was excited to run on a home course since it's my senior year. Running with my teammates made it special as well. Grace and Karis really helped push the pace up front. I think that shows how strong we are as a team. The field was muddy at nationals last year, so this is good practice for similar type of conditions.”
The men's finish between A&M (1-5-13-16-19) and Lamar (6-8-9-11-22) was close as each had a runner complete the race. The Aggies led 6 to 14 after the first pair of runners, then 19-23 when the third runners came in. The Cardinals moved ahead 34-35 based on the finish of the fourth runners, but A&M reclaimed the lead by two points when its fifth finisher had a three-place gap on Lamar.
Following Spencer was sophomore Austin Wells, who clocked 18:36.4 to place fifth in team scoring and sixth-place overall one spot behind Aggie All-American Henry Lelei (18:34.3). Then A&M seniors Ryan Miller and Austin Geerts were the third and fourth Aggies to finish, running times of 18:58.0 and 19:06.1.
The fifth finisher for A&M was senior Colin Slattery, who placed 19th with a 19:10.5, giving him a cushion of four seconds over Lamar's fifth runner, who placed 22nd in 19:14.2.
“Both Lamar and us each held back one guy out of our top group for this race,” stated McRaven. “We've been training pretty hard, so they are probably pretty tired right now. It's always nice to get the win.
“We had a lot of rain in the last 48 hours and a lot of rain the last seven days. For the course to hold up the way it did we were pleased. Now we know where there are some drainage issues. I'm excited about having the course and the opportunity for teams to get out here and compete.”
Also competing for the Aggie men were Julian Castellano (28th – 19:16.8), Elliott Farris (35th – 19:20.6), Ryan Teel (36th – 19:22.5), Colin Stoeber (44th – 19:31.6), Aaron Murray (63rd – 19:51.9), Bobby Zeller (104th – 20:56.5) and Brett Schmit (116th – 21:48.6).
The top five teams in the men's race included a close encounter with Stephen F. Austin placing third with 84 points followed by Texas Tech (95) and Baylor 104.
Lamar scored 45 points (6-7-8-9-15) to win the women's team title over 57 points (4-5-10-17-21) for Baylor while the Aggie women totaled 71 points (1-2-3-31-34) in third place. Stephen F. Austin (87) and Texas Tech (104) rounded out the top five teams.
While A&M had a perfect score of six points from their first three runners, it increased to 37 and then 71 points when the next pair of Aggies finished with freshman Amelia McElhinney (31st – 15:23.9) and senior Johanna Galloway (34th – 15:31.0).
“We have some work to do for our four and five runners to close the gap,” noted McRaven. “They've done it in training. But this was the first true race of the season for all of the freshmen, so it gave them a chance to shake the rust off a bit.”
The A&M crew also included Katie Pia (42nd – 15:35.8), Kelsey Persyn (43rd – 15:36.2), Haley Deakins (45th – 15:40.3), Ashley Chamberlain (47th – 15:41.3), Emily Willingham (56th – 15:49.9), Laura Craig (64th – 16:01.3), Rachel Williams (70th – 16:12.8), Lauren Fontana (74th – 16:18.5), Melanie Enriquez (79th – 16:28.9), Sara Shaw (82nd – 16:34.8), and Shelby McNeel (88th – 16:48.1).
TEXAS A&M INVITATIONAL RESULTS
Dale Watts '71 Cross Country Course
Team Scores – Men
1. Texas A&M, 54; 2. Lamar, 56; 3. Stephen F. Austin, 84; 4. Texas Tech, 95; 5. Baylor, 104; 6. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 164; 7. Central Arkansas, 180; 8. Texas State, 210; 9. Sam Houston, 262; 10. Houston Baptist, 278; 11. Texas-Pan American, 284.
Team Scores – Women
1. Lamar, 45; 2. Baylor, 57; 3. Texas A&M, 71; 4. Stephen F. Austin, 87; 5. Texas Tech, 104; 6. Sam Houston, 153; 7. Texas State, 219; 8. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 232; 9. Houston Baptist, 255; 10. Texas-Pan American, 289.
