Aggies first road trip takes them to Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational

Friday, October 2

South Bend, Ind.

1:00 PM

Texas A&M

Notre Dame Invitational

Sep 30, 2015 | Cross Country

SOUTH BEND, Indiana – Texas A&M's first road trip in cross country has the Aggies traveling to the campus of Notre Dame University for the Joe Piane Invitational on Friday. The 60^th edition of the meet adds Piane to its name to honor the former Irish head coach who retired at the end of the 2014 track and field season after 39 years with the school.

Racing on the Burke Memorial Golf course, there are 22 women's teams and 21 men's teams competing in the Blue Division, where squads will include up to nine runners per school. The women's 5,000m race starts at 1 p.m. (CT) with the men's 8,000m race set to begin at 2:45 p.m. (CT).

The meet features six men's teams and four women's teams nationally ranked among the top 30 schools in the country. No. 1 ranked New Mexico headlines the women's field which includes North Carolina State (No. 14), Notre Dame (No. 20) and Vanderbilt (No. 22). No. 17 New Mexico is also the top men's ranked squad along with Arizona State (No. 18), Southern Utah (No. 23), Colorado State (No. 26), North Carolina State (No. 27) and Eastern Kentucky (No. 28).

Texas A&M women will also see Florida, Missouri and Vanderbilt from the SEC along with SMU from the South Central region with the Aggie men also facing conference foes Florida and Missouri.

"The level of competition increases each meet for us," noted Texas A&M assistant coach Wendel McRaven. "The Notre Dame meet should be a nice progression from our home meet. With 20-plus teams and a tight course we will be racing in a more congested field. This will enable us to verify the results from last week. We've been running well at home, now we'll see if that translates to another meet on the road."

The Aggies last visit to the Notre Dame campus was in 2012, so this will be a new venture for the current members of the A&M team. Leading the squad are recent SEC Runner of Week recipients Karis Jochen and Austin Wells along with SEC Freshman Runner of the Week Juan Uribe.

"It'll be interesting to see where we stack up at Notre Dame and if our athletes can keep their composure," said McRaven. "Our course is wide open and they will have to battle a bit more at Notre Dame. It will be good for this group to experience the meet and this level of competition. We never worry about our times. It's about racing people and putting yourself in a good position."

Kelsie Warren returns to the line-up for the Aggie women after a calf strain kept her out of action a week ago. The A&M women's team competing at Notre Dame also includes Hannah Campbell, Laura Craig, Haley Deakins, Devin Norton, Kelsey Persyn, Katie Pia, Arin Rice, Kaitlin Tanner and Emily Willingham.

The men's squad also includes Eli Canal, Christian Farris, Jacob Perry, Alex Riba, Colin Stoeber, Ryan Teel and Cameron Villarreal.

Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational – South Bend, Indiana
Friday, October 2, 2015

Men's Teams – Blue Division
Arizona State
Bradley
Colorado State
Eastern Kentucky
Eastern Michigan
Florida
Illinois State
Indiana State
Iowa
IUPUI
Missouri
Navy
NC State
New Mexico
Notre Dame
Penn
Purdue
Southern Utah
Texas A&M
UC Santa Barbara
UTEP

Women's Teams – Blue Division
Arizona State
Bradley
Butler
Clemson
Colorado State
Eastern Kentucky
Eastern Michigan
Florida
Idaho State
Illinois State
Iowa
Miami (OH)
Missouri
NC State
New Mexico
Northwestern
Notre Dame
Penn
Purdue
SMU
Texas A&M
Utah
UTEP
Vanderbilt