Team Scores
Men: 1. Texas A&M 24; 2. Lamar 46; 3. UTSA 60.
Women: 1. Texas A&M 15; 2. UTSA 50.
COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M claimed a pair of team titles as they started the 2015 cross country season with the Aggie Opener on the Dale Watts course Friday evening against Lamar and UTSA. In addition to the team victory, A&M also produced a pair of individual winners in Aggie juniors Karis Jochen and Cameron Villarreal.
With a perfect score of 15 points the A&M women finished ahead of UTSA, who scored 50 points, while Lamar had only four runners finish and didn't compile a team score. The Aggie men totaled 24 points to defeat Lamar (46) and UTSA (60).
"The women's team has really progressed," said Texas A&M assistant coach Wendel McRaven. "They ran well in a rust-buster race. We've been training hard, and putting in a lot of volume.
"The guys went out pretty fast in the first mile and I wanted them to run in little groups together. Villarreal and Austin Wells were one of the groups and they did a nice job running together. It's a good start for us and we'll learn a little bit more in three weeks when we run 8,000 meters out here and see more competition."
Completing the women's 4,000-meter course in 13 minutes, 33.9 seconds, Jochen led the field by nearly 22 seconds. Aggie frosh Kelsie Warren provided A&M a 1-2 lead through a majority of the race, but Lamar senior Verity Ockenden finished second in 13:57.6 ahead of Warren, who placed third in 13:58.9. Lamar's Evelyn Chavez clocked 14:06.7 for fourth place.
"This race was exciting, not only as a first meet of the season, but the whole track team got to see us compete," noted Jochen. "We have a really good group of girls this year and the team has gotten really close off the track. We will see major benefits on the track from that closeness with the team.
"I'm really excited to race with Kelsie again. I had the opportunity to be a teammate with her for a couple of seasons in high school. She's a really hard worker, which is great for the team dynamic. I'm real excited she is here."
McRaven added: "It was fun to see two local products in Karis and Kelsie racing in front of a home crowd. They were out a little quick, but I think competing in front of family and friends played a part in that. It was good, though, for them to lead the charge."
In the men's 6,000-meter race Villarreal posted a winning time of 17:59.2 over the 18:02.6 from runner-up Dusan Makevic of UTSA. A&M's Alex Riba claimed third in 18:10.1 with Austin Wells fourth at 18:17.5. Lamar's first finisher was freshman Gabriel Steffenson in fifth place with an 18:18.3. The other pair of Aggies figuring in the team score included Juan Uribe (18:26.8) in eighth place and Ryan Teal (18:28.7) placing 10th.
"It was a really good team race for us," stated Villarreal, who shared the early lead with Wells. "The race plan from coach was to execute as well as we could while staying in groups and trying to work together the entire race. I think we did a really good job of that today.
"In the first half of the race I was working with Wells and Ryan Miller, a teammate from last year who helped us out. Overall it was a great day to be out here with the team."
McRaven added: "Alex Riba led the next group and was really patient. In cross country there are no prizes for the first mile, the prize comes at the finish line. He did a nice job of closing out the race to be our second finisher."
The rest of the Aggie women's scoring first five runners included a 5-6-7 finish for Arin Rice (14:18.5), Kelsey Persyn (14:24.4) and Laura Craig (14:27.8). A&M also had runners placing 8-9 with Devin Norton (14:31.7) and Haley Deakins (14:42.5). UTSA's first finisher was Kerstin Sheehan in 10th place at 14:51.8.
Christian Farris led the next group of Aggie men, placing 12th in 18:30.1 ahead of teammate Jacob Perry (13th, 18:39.1). Then a trio of A&M runners finished together with Colin Stoeber (15th, 18:47.7), Zach Martin (16th, 18:51.3), and Elliott Farris (17th, 18:52.3).
Aggies in the women's field also included Emily Willingham (12th, 14:54.4), Katie Pia (16th, 15:07.6), Lauren Fontana (20th, 15:32.3), and Rachel Williams (27th, 16:18.4). The men's field also included A&M runners Taylor Clayton (21st, 19:05.4), Jake Bootz (24th, 19:10.8), Chandler Heikkila (25th, 19:16.8), Chase Van Voorhis (27th, 19:24.7), Julian Castellano (29th, 19:29.8), Aaron Murray (30th, 19:41.1) and Nathan Ricketts (36th, 20:39.0).
Men: 1. Texas A&M 24; 2. Lamar 46; 3. UTSA 60.
Women: 1. Texas A&M 15; 2. UTSA 50.
COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M claimed a pair of team titles as they started the 2015 cross country season with the Aggie Opener on the Dale Watts course Friday evening against Lamar and UTSA. In addition to the team victory, A&M also produced a pair of individual winners in Aggie juniors Karis Jochen and Cameron Villarreal.
With a perfect score of 15 points the A&M women finished ahead of UTSA, who scored 50 points, while Lamar had only four runners finish and didn't compile a team score. The Aggie men totaled 24 points to defeat Lamar (46) and UTSA (60).
"The women's team has really progressed," said Texas A&M assistant coach Wendel McRaven. "They ran well in a rust-buster race. We've been training hard, and putting in a lot of volume.
"The guys went out pretty fast in the first mile and I wanted them to run in little groups together. Villarreal and Austin Wells were one of the groups and they did a nice job running together. It's a good start for us and we'll learn a little bit more in three weeks when we run 8,000 meters out here and see more competition."
Completing the women's 4,000-meter course in 13 minutes, 33.9 seconds, Jochen led the field by nearly 22 seconds. Aggie frosh Kelsie Warren provided A&M a 1-2 lead through a majority of the race, but Lamar senior Verity Ockenden finished second in 13:57.6 ahead of Warren, who placed third in 13:58.9. Lamar's Evelyn Chavez clocked 14:06.7 for fourth place.
"This race was exciting, not only as a first meet of the season, but the whole track team got to see us compete," noted Jochen. "We have a really good group of girls this year and the team has gotten really close off the track. We will see major benefits on the track from that closeness with the team.
"I'm really excited to race with Kelsie again. I had the opportunity to be a teammate with her for a couple of seasons in high school. She's a really hard worker, which is great for the team dynamic. I'm real excited she is here."
McRaven added: "It was fun to see two local products in Karis and Kelsie racing in front of a home crowd. They were out a little quick, but I think competing in front of family and friends played a part in that. It was good, though, for them to lead the charge."
In the men's 6,000-meter race Villarreal posted a winning time of 17:59.2 over the 18:02.6 from runner-up Dusan Makevic of UTSA. A&M's Alex Riba claimed third in 18:10.1 with Austin Wells fourth at 18:17.5. Lamar's first finisher was freshman Gabriel Steffenson in fifth place with an 18:18.3. The other pair of Aggies figuring in the team score included Juan Uribe (18:26.8) in eighth place and Ryan Teal (18:28.7) placing 10th.
"It was a really good team race for us," stated Villarreal, who shared the early lead with Wells. "The race plan from coach was to execute as well as we could while staying in groups and trying to work together the entire race. I think we did a really good job of that today.
"In the first half of the race I was working with Wells and Ryan Miller, a teammate from last year who helped us out. Overall it was a great day to be out here with the team."
McRaven added: "Alex Riba led the next group and was really patient. In cross country there are no prizes for the first mile, the prize comes at the finish line. He did a nice job of closing out the race to be our second finisher."
The rest of the Aggie women's scoring first five runners included a 5-6-7 finish for Arin Rice (14:18.5), Kelsey Persyn (14:24.4) and Laura Craig (14:27.8). A&M also had runners placing 8-9 with Devin Norton (14:31.7) and Haley Deakins (14:42.5). UTSA's first finisher was Kerstin Sheehan in 10th place at 14:51.8.
Christian Farris led the next group of Aggie men, placing 12th in 18:30.1 ahead of teammate Jacob Perry (13th, 18:39.1). Then a trio of A&M runners finished together with Colin Stoeber (15th, 18:47.7), Zach Martin (16th, 18:51.3), and Elliott Farris (17th, 18:52.3).
Aggies in the women's field also included Emily Willingham (12th, 14:54.4), Katie Pia (16th, 15:07.6), Lauren Fontana (20th, 15:32.3), and Rachel Williams (27th, 16:18.4). The men's field also included A&M runners Taylor Clayton (21st, 19:05.4), Jake Bootz (24th, 19:10.8), Chandler Heikkila (25th, 19:16.8), Chase Van Voorhis (27th, 19:24.7), Julian Castellano (29th, 19:29.8), Aaron Murray (30th, 19:41.1) and Nathan Ricketts (36th, 20:39.0).