A week from today the Texas A&M cross country season opens its 2015 campaign with the first of four home meets the Aggies will host on the Dale Watts Cross Country course.
A&M will have a pair of regular season meets in September, on Friday the 4th and Saturday the 26th, and then host a pair of postseason meets with the SEC Championships (October 30th) and NCAA South Central Region (November 13th).
The Aggie Opener next Friday evening will include competition from Lamar and UTSA. The women's race, covering a distance of 4,000 meters, will start at 6:45 p.m. while the men's 6,000-meter race will begin at 7:15 p.m.
"It's exciting to have this caliber of a home course," said Texas A&M assistant coach Wendel McRaven. "It's beneficial for us to host early season meets so we don't worry about travel squad issues. We have enough home meets where everybody is going to get an opportunity to prove where they are at on the squad. It's huge in terms of a developmental aspect with our team.
"With the better athletes in our program their training isn't interrupted by traveling every other week to start the season. They're able to roll out of bed and utilize a world-class facility on campus."
At the Texas A&M Invitational on Saturday, September 26, the collegiate division will include an 8,000-meter race for the men and a 5,000-meter course for the women. A high school division at the Texas A&M Invitational will include the top teams in the state racing at 5,000 meters.
After the two home meets in September the Aggies will travel to invitational meets hosted by Notre Dame (October 2), Houston Baptist (October 9) and Alabama (October 16) prior to the conference meet A&M hosts on the Watts course.
"Our facility can be a real blessing to the sport in the state, and in particular this part of Texas," noted McRaven. "Hopefully the community gets to experience the facility since it's meant for people to get out there and run on it. We look forward to hosting high school meets as well as community and age group races.
"There is nothing like this course anywhere in Texas. It's a scenic course, with a huge starting area and a wide open finish. You can stand on the berm and watch a significant portion of the race. The course also features tree-lined areas and sections that are heavily wooded. It's a fairly fast course with good footing throughout."
The Aggie women had a pair of seniors earn All-America honors last year as Grace Fletcher and Hillary Montgomery each placed among the top 40 finishers at the NCAA Championships. Junior Karis Jochen is the top returner for the A&M women and the College Station native is joined by another local product in freshman Kelsie Warren as well as Arin Rice, a transfer from TCU.
"We take a big hit with the loss of two All-Americans, who both worked hard over four years to get where they did," stated McRaven. "Karis is the caliber of athlete who could be an All-American this season, while Kelsie steps in as a freshman and can be an impact for us right from the start. We will bring Arin along slowly since she is more of a miler, but she has had success in cross country in high school. By the championship portion of the season Arin should be ready to contribute.
"The women have worked hard on becoming a tight-knit team since last spring. I challenged them to work on that and they have stepped up to that challenge. It's the closest knit group on the women's side we've had since I've been here. We have a good group of runners who have been working to make an impact on the team."
While the men's squad will be without the leadership of Isaac Spencer, the Aggies return a pair of runners who have contributed on the conference level in cross county was well as on the track in juniors Austin Wells and Cameron Villarreal. Also expected to provide a boost to the men's efforts this season are Christian Farris and Alex Riba.
"It's an interesting mix on the men's side since we have a couple of returners in Wells (29:09.88 in 10k) and Villarreal (13:57.91 in 5k) who have done some nice things on the track," McRaven said. "We have a group returning with a lot potential. This is as fit of a group coming back from the summer that I've seen here and we should be better than last year.
"This will be the first healthy cross country season for Alex. Coming off an injury last year he didn't run cross country, but made progress during the track season and had a good summer. Christian is a guy who stepped up towards the end of the cross country season last year and is coming back into this fall in pretty good shape. We also have a bunch of guys who redshirted last season. They are eager to contribute and earn a spot on the travel squad."
The Watts course, which opened in the fall of 2014, is located within the new Hildebrand Equine Complex at 3242 F and B Road. The facility is accessible from F and B Road off the corner intersection with 2818.
A&M will have a pair of regular season meets in September, on Friday the 4th and Saturday the 26th, and then host a pair of postseason meets with the SEC Championships (October 30th) and NCAA South Central Region (November 13th).
The Aggie Opener next Friday evening will include competition from Lamar and UTSA. The women's race, covering a distance of 4,000 meters, will start at 6:45 p.m. while the men's 6,000-meter race will begin at 7:15 p.m.
"It's exciting to have this caliber of a home course," said Texas A&M assistant coach Wendel McRaven. "It's beneficial for us to host early season meets so we don't worry about travel squad issues. We have enough home meets where everybody is going to get an opportunity to prove where they are at on the squad. It's huge in terms of a developmental aspect with our team.
"With the better athletes in our program their training isn't interrupted by traveling every other week to start the season. They're able to roll out of bed and utilize a world-class facility on campus."
At the Texas A&M Invitational on Saturday, September 26, the collegiate division will include an 8,000-meter race for the men and a 5,000-meter course for the women. A high school division at the Texas A&M Invitational will include the top teams in the state racing at 5,000 meters.
After the two home meets in September the Aggies will travel to invitational meets hosted by Notre Dame (October 2), Houston Baptist (October 9) and Alabama (October 16) prior to the conference meet A&M hosts on the Watts course.
"Our facility can be a real blessing to the sport in the state, and in particular this part of Texas," noted McRaven. "Hopefully the community gets to experience the facility since it's meant for people to get out there and run on it. We look forward to hosting high school meets as well as community and age group races.
"There is nothing like this course anywhere in Texas. It's a scenic course, with a huge starting area and a wide open finish. You can stand on the berm and watch a significant portion of the race. The course also features tree-lined areas and sections that are heavily wooded. It's a fairly fast course with good footing throughout."
The Aggie women had a pair of seniors earn All-America honors last year as Grace Fletcher and Hillary Montgomery each placed among the top 40 finishers at the NCAA Championships. Junior Karis Jochen is the top returner for the A&M women and the College Station native is joined by another local product in freshman Kelsie Warren as well as Arin Rice, a transfer from TCU.
"We take a big hit with the loss of two All-Americans, who both worked hard over four years to get where they did," stated McRaven. "Karis is the caliber of athlete who could be an All-American this season, while Kelsie steps in as a freshman and can be an impact for us right from the start. We will bring Arin along slowly since she is more of a miler, but she has had success in cross country in high school. By the championship portion of the season Arin should be ready to contribute.
"The women have worked hard on becoming a tight-knit team since last spring. I challenged them to work on that and they have stepped up to that challenge. It's the closest knit group on the women's side we've had since I've been here. We have a good group of runners who have been working to make an impact on the team."
While the men's squad will be without the leadership of Isaac Spencer, the Aggies return a pair of runners who have contributed on the conference level in cross county was well as on the track in juniors Austin Wells and Cameron Villarreal. Also expected to provide a boost to the men's efforts this season are Christian Farris and Alex Riba.
"It's an interesting mix on the men's side since we have a couple of returners in Wells (29:09.88 in 10k) and Villarreal (13:57.91 in 5k) who have done some nice things on the track," McRaven said. "We have a group returning with a lot potential. This is as fit of a group coming back from the summer that I've seen here and we should be better than last year.
"This will be the first healthy cross country season for Alex. Coming off an injury last year he didn't run cross country, but made progress during the track season and had a good summer. Christian is a guy who stepped up towards the end of the cross country season last year and is coming back into this fall in pretty good shape. We also have a bunch of guys who redshirted last season. They are eager to contribute and earn a spot on the travel squad."
The Watts course, which opened in the fall of 2014, is located within the new Hildebrand Equine Complex at 3242 F and B Road. The facility is accessible from F and B Road off the corner intersection with 2818.
2015 Texas A&M Cross Country Schedule
| September | ||
| 4 | Aggie Opener | Watts Course |
| 26 | Texas A&M Invitational | Watts Course |
| College & High School teams | ||
| October | ||
| 2 | Notre Dame Invitational | South Bend, Indiana |
| 9 | Houston Baptist Invitational | Houston, Texas |
| 16 | Crimson Classic | Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| 30 | SEC CHAMPIONSHIPS | Watts Course |
| November | ||
| 13 | NCAA South Central Region | Watts Course |
| 21 | NCAA Championships | Louisville, Kentucky |