Karis Jochen wins Crimson Classic title, Aggie men produce runner-up finish

Friday, October 16

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

5:00 PM

Texas A&M

Crimson Classic

Oct 16, 2015 | Cross Country

TUSCALOOSA – Texas A&M's Karis Jochen won the women's individual title at the Crimson Classic on Friday evening in leading the Aggies to a fifth-place team finish. The A&M men posted a runner-up team finish behind No. 6 Oklahoma State with Cameron Villarreal guiding the Aggie squad with a fifth-place effort on Alabama's Harry Pritchett Running Park.

"Karis had a very workman-like effort and she put herself in a good position," said Texas A&M assistant coach Wendel McRaven. "This is the Karis that we know. I think she is one of the best girls in the country.

"We had two all-Americans who were her teammates last year. If she continues to do things the way she's been doing things, is patient, continues to progress through her training and trusts herself, I think she will be in position to be an all-American at the end of the cross country season."

Racing over 5,000 meters amid a field of 234 runners Jochen posted a winning time of 16 minutes, 46.23 seconds with Natalie Baker of Oklahoma State runner-up in 16:46.95 as Alabama's Katelyn Greenleaf place third in 16:47.41. Behind Baker, OSU had five more runners finish in the order of 4-5-9-10-11 to win the team title with 30 points.

"I was excited to pull out the win while not feeling maybe 100 percent fresh," noted Jochen. "The close finish was exciting, even though I'd prefer not to have a close finish. This season has been a good learning season for me, because I've gotten better at racing more so than just running fast. Being engaged with everyone else during the race is something I've gotten better at this year.

"The race felt good even though I didn't feel my best since we are still training hard to keep the upcoming important meets in mind. We're still training at a good volume and intensity."

In the men's 8,000-meter race Villarreal posted a time of 24:28:56 as he finished behind Oklahoma State's Cerake Geberkidane, the winner in 23:40.78, along with Antibahs Kosgei of Alabama (24:17.47), Vegard Oelstad of Oklahoma State (24:19.49) and Samford's Arse'ne Guillorel (24:24.02). The Division I field included 218 runners.

The nationally ranked Cowboys scored 27 points for the team victory with their top five finishing among the top 10 of the Division I schools with an order of 1-3-6-8-9. Texas A&M's tally of 95 points came from a finish order of 5-15-17-28-30-38.

The top 10 men schools in team scoring also included Lipscomb (131), Auburn (146), North Florida (170), Alabama (182), UT-Arlington (237), Southern Illinois (245), Belmont (258) and LSU (294).

"It was definitely a good outing for the team," stated Villarreal. "We've been working on staying together and running in our groups. Today we had a bit of issue early on trying to get into a rhythm and find our groups. Within the first 2k or 3k we ended getting back together and on track. Then we started rolling again. I think that says a lot about our team and how we're developing.

"We raced on the same course we ran conference on last year and our fifth guy would have placed right next to our first and second guys from last year. We also had a minute improvement in time across the board. It's exciting going forward knowing that we're so much farther ahead than we were last year at this time of the season. "

As Villarreal achieved a top 10 performance, another pair of Aggies finished among the top 20 with Austin Wells (24:55.37) and Alex Riba (25:00.63) placing 15^th and 17^th. Wrapping up A&M's scoring five were Christian Farris (25:23.03) and Juan Uribe (25:29.33) as they finished 28^th and 30^th.

The sixth and seventh runners for the Aggies were Ryan Teel (25:34.19) and Colin Stoeber (25:41.57), placing 38^th and 42^nd. Rounding out the A&M crew were Elliott Farris (57^th - 25:52.82) and Aaron Murray (93^rd – 26:22.63).

"We accomplished some of the things we wanted to do this weekend," noted McRaven. "This course probably doesn't suit our guys since they are more rhythm type runners, but cross country is about up and down terrain and going around turns along with varying footing. We have to get used to that since championship meets can be on all kinds of courses."

Oklahoma State, ranked No. 28 nationally, claimed the women's team title with 30 points over No. 30 Alabama (71) and Auburn (74). The rest of the women's top 10 included Mississippi (117), Texas A&M (117), South Alabama (210), Lipscomb (253), Southern Mississippi (265), North Florida (275) and UT-Arlington (322).

Arin Rice completed the course as the second Aggie finisher among the women, posting a time of 17:35.32, as Kelsey Persyn ran 18:04.10 to place 43^rd. Rounding out the A&M team scoring five were Katie Watson (18:11.32) and Haley Deakins (18:16.48) as they placed 54^th and 64^th.

Lauren Fontana led the next group of Aggie women in the race, placing 86^th (18:40.01), with Laura Craig (18:40.98) and Emily Willingham (18:42.16) finishing 89^th and 90^th. Rounding out the A&M squad were Hannah Campbell (100^th - 18:48.57) and Kaitlin Tanner (133^rd – 19:13.24).

"The finish for the women gives us something to aim for at conference," said McRaven. "In a couple of weeks, racing on our home course, we'll have some people to shoot for. Both teams had a solid performance, but not spectacular races. But I told them coming into the meet that's all we needed since we're still training hard at this stage."

CRIMSON CLASSIC – Harry Pritchett Running Park
Team Scores

Men: 1. Oklahoma State 27; 2. Texas A&M 95; 3. Lipscomb 131; 4. Auburn 146; 5. North Florida 170; 6. Alabama 182; 7. Texas-Arlington 237; 8. Southern Illinois 245; 9. Belmont 258; 10. LSU 294; 11. South Alabama 294; 12. Houston Baptist 320; 13. Samford 336; 14. Sam Houston 343; 15. Mississippi State 348; 16. McNeese State 349; 17. Vanderbilt 442; 18. Louisiana Tech 509; 19. Texas Rio Grande Valley 567; 20. Memphis 597; 21. Troy 598; 22. UL-Monroe 635; 23. Alabama State 742.

Women: 1. Oklahoma State 30; 2. Alabama 71; 3. Auburn 74; 4. Mississippi 117; 5. Texas A&M 166; 6. South Alabama 210; 7. Lipscomb 253; 8. Southern Mississippi 265; 9. North Florida 275; 10. Texas-Arlington 322; 11. Belmont 389; 12. Memphis 412; 13. Sam Houston 440; 14. Florida State 441; 15. LSU 442; 16. Tennessee Tech 451; 17. Alabama State 470; 18. Texas Rio Grande Valley 474; 19. McNeese State 512; 20. UAB 520; 21. Samford 522; 22. Troy 543; 23. Southern Illinois 574; 24. Houston Baptist 595; 25. Louisiana Tech 762; 26. UL-Monroe 801.