Texas A&M hosts SEC Championships on Watts Cross Country course Friday

Friday, October 30

College Station

10:00 AM

Texas A&M

SEC Championships

Oct 27, 2015 | Cross Country

COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M's Dale Watts Cross Country course serves as host of the SEC Championships this Friday with a start time of 10 a.m. for the men's 8,000-meter race followed by the women's 6,000-meter race at 11 a.m. Admission is free and there will be an awards ceremony at noon.

Four nationally ranked teams are featured in the conference meet with No. 8 Arkansas the lone ranked squad in the men's field along with No. 4 Arkansas, No. 13 Mississippi State and No. 26 Vanderbilt among the women's field.

"We're excited to have people come out to the SEC Championships on our new venue and see what we have to offer," said Texas A&M assistant coach Wendel McRaven. "We're excited to be competing at home in a championship event. Our men are really coming on while our women are lacking a little depth. Our goal is to keep getting better and try to improve upon last year."

The host Aggies finished sixth in the women's field last year after a runner-up performance in 2013 while the A&M men have finished eighth the past two years following a tie for third in 2012. Leading the respective Aggie crews this season is a pair of juniors in Karis Jochen and Cameron Villarreal.

"Karis has been awesome and it's great to have a local kid doing so well," noted McRaven of the College Station native. "Hopefully we'll get a good crowd out there who want to see her run.

"A year ago Karis had two teammates who were all-American in cross country and she was right there in almost qualifying for the NCAA Championships. Now she has inherited that mantel. She's running better than ever and has learned to race a little bit better in becoming a better competitor. She's one of the best girls in the country and, at worst, should be among the top five in conference."

Jochen, who placed 13th as a freshman on the runner-up Aggie team in 2013, finished eighth last year and should challenge for a top five finish on her home course. Jochen has a pair of individual victories this season, one at 6k during the A&M Invitational and another over 5k in the Crimson Classic hosted by Alabama.

Villarreal, the third Aggie finisher a year ago in 44th place after placing 28th as a frosh, has led A&M with a pair of top 10 finishes at Notre Dame and Crimson Classic. As a team the Aggies finished as runner-up to No. 6 Oklahoma State in the Alabama meet and continue to show improvement as the fall progresses into the championship part of the season.

"We've grown as a team this season," stated McRaven. "When they get on the same page and are running for each other, then they're able to disperse the pressure among the first five or seven runners. When they start running for each other then it's a pretty special thing. That's the biggest area we've progressed, in the team culture of cross country. It's the strongest I've seen it since I've been at A&M."

In addition to Villarreal there are four more Aggies returning from the SEC meet a year ago with Austin Wells, Ryan Teel, Christian Farris and Elliott Farris. Alex Riba has been among the top three A&M finishers this season while depth to the squad has been added through Juan Uribe, Aaron Murray, Colin Stoeber, Jacob Perry, Eli Canal, Zach Martin and Julian Castellano.

Joining Jochen from experiencing the SEC meet a year ago are Haley Deakins, Laura Craig and Katie Pia. Arin Rice, a transfer from TCU, has been A&M's second runner this season. Aggies finishing in A&M's top seven this season include Kelsey Persyn, Katie Watson, Emily Willingham, Kaitlin Tanner, Lauren Fontana, Hannah Campbell, Devin Norton and Shelby McNeel.

Arkansas enters the 2015 version of the SEC Cross Country Championships having claimed the men's and women's team titles the past two years while also sweeping individual victories.

The Razorback men survived a challenge from Mississippi a year ago, edging the Rebels by six points, 54-60, as Arkansas captured a fifth consecutive championship and its 22nd SEC title out of the 24 they have contested since joining the conference in 1991. Mississippi, meanwhile, matched its best cross country league finish from 1968 when they were second to Tennessee.

Ranked No. 8 in the nation the Razorbacks return five runners who were part of the team's top seven runners in the SEC last season. A leading trio of Gabe Gonzalez, Cale Wallace and Alex George finished fourth, eighth and 10th in the 2014 SEC race. Austen Dalquist recently led the Razorbacks to a third-place team finish at the Pre-Nationals with Arkansas finishing behind No. 1 Colorado and No. 3 Oregon.

The Rebels return seven of its top nine finishers from the SEC meet, including a trio who placed among the top 10 – Wes Gallagher (third), Sean Tobin (sixth) and Robert Domanic (seventh).

Dominique Scott claimed a second individual SEC victory in leading the Razorback women to a successful team title defense as Arkansas claimed its 15th championship since 1991. Scott could join Auburn's Angela Homan (2003-05) and Amy Yoder of Arkansas (1997-99) as winners of three consecutive SEC individual titles, and Scott would be the first to also be part of three winning teams if the Razorbacks defend their crown.

Along with two-time defending champion Scott, the Razorbacks return five other runners who were part of their 10 entrants (placing sixth through 10th on the squad) in last year's conference meet. A newcomer making an impact as the second finisher among the Arkansas pack this season is Devin Clark. The Razorback women recently placed second to No. 1 New Mexico at the Wisconsin Invitational.

Mississippi State's efforts during the 2015 campaign have been led by Marta Freitas and Rhianwedd Price, the 2015 NCAA 1500m champion who finished fourth in the SEC cross country race last season. Among the five returning runners for the Bulldogs from a fifth-place effort in the conference meet are Cornelia Griesche and Lisa Ziegler, who finished 21st and 25th a year ago. Mississippi State recently placed fifth in the seeded race at Pre-Nationals, finishing as the top SEC school.

Vanderbilt returns the order of 3-5-7-9-10 from its runner-up performance at the 2014 conference meet as they are led by Sara Barron, who placed 14th. Another challenger in the women's team race includes Alabama, who finished third last season. The Crimson Tide returns a pair runners who placed among the top 15 a year ago in Katelyn Greenleaf (11th) and Hannah Waggoner (15th).