Aggie men finish fourth, women seventh in NCAA South Central region meet

Friday, November 11

Fayetteville, Ark.

11:00 AM

Texas A&M

NCAA South Central Regional

Nov 11, 2016 | Cross Country

NCAA South Central - women's results NCAA South Central - men's results

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Texas A&M had a pair of runners earn region honors for placing among the top 25 finishers in the NCAA South Central region cross country meet hosted by Arkansas on Friday.

Christian Farris placed 14^th in the 10,000-meter race at Agri Park while Elliott Farris finished 25^th to lead the Aggies to a fourth-place team finish as the squad scored 150 points. Karis Jochen led the Texas A&M women in placing 29^th over a 6,000-meter course as the team totaled 209 points to finish seventh.

"It was a mixed bag for us," said Texas A&M assistant coach Wendel McRaven. "We had some good things happen with some young people who ran pretty well in both races. I was also pleased that we had two earn all-region.

"When you end the championship season, especially not on the note you necessarily wanted it to end, you've got to look for the positives. There are a lot of positives with this group. We didn't finish where we wanted to finish in the team scoring, but the returning group is ready to get better for next season."

Arkansas swept both team titles, with the men scoring 40 points and the women producing a tally of 48. Both Razorback squads are nationally ranked, with the men ranked sixth and the women seventh.

In the men's team scoring it was Texas placing second with 81 points with UT Arlington (135), Texas A&M and Baylor (170) rounding out the top five. On the women's side Baylor finished runner-up with 62 points as Rice (93), Texas (108) and SMU (109) rounded out the top five.

Tulane's Emmanuel Rotich claimed the men's individual honors, clocking 29:58.9 for the victory over Andrew Ronoh of Arkansas, who ran 30:00.2, and Stanley Limoh of Louisiana-Lafayette (30:04.7). Razorback Devin Clark posted a time of 20:17.4 to secure the women's individual title over the Baylor tandem of Maggie Montoya (20:21.7) and Lindsey Bradley (20:24.6).

In leading the Aggie men, C. Farris covered the 10,000-meter course in 30:55.5 while E. Farris posted a time of 31:15.3. Freshman Jon Bishop finished third among the team, finishing 34^th in 31:14.4 while Alex Riba placed 43^rd in his first race of the season, clocking 31:49.0.

The fifth runner for Texas A&M, completing the team score, was Cameron Villarreal as he placed 49^th in 31:59.2. Jacob Perry was 92^nd with a time of 33:05.3 while Austin Wells did not finish the race.

"Christian and Elliott are guys who developed in our program and have gotten better and better each season," noted McRaven. "That's exciting to watch their development. Bishop is a high school miler who finished 34^th. He's a young, physically mature guy whose best years are ahead of him."

Jochen ran a time of 21:29.0 in placing 29^th among a field of 144 finishers. Aggie freshman Ashley Driscoll was the next finisher for the team in placing 38^th with a clocking of 21:47.4. Devin Norton and Haley Deakins placed 43^rd and 45^th with times of 21:58.6 and 22:01.1.

Rounding out the Texas A&M scoring five was Katie Watson at 57^th in 22:26.5. The sixth and seventh runners for the Aggies were Kelsie Warren (58^th – 22:26.2) and Laura Craig (85^th – 23:17.3).

NCAA South Central Region – Team Scores
MEN: 1. Arkansas, 40; 2. Texas, 81; 3. UT-Arlington 135; 4. Texas A&M, 150; 5. Baylor, 170; 6. Lamar, 184; 7. Rice, 224; 8. Texas State, 227; 9. North Texas, 249; 10. UL-Lafayette, 258; 11. Tulane, 283; 12. SFA, 292; 13. UT-Rio Grande Valley, 299; 14. Sam Houston State, 312; 15. McNeese State, 335.

WOMEN: 1. Arkansas, 48; 2. Baylor, 62; 3. Rice, 93; 4. Texas, 108; 5. SMU, 109; 6. TCU, 176; 7. Texas A&M, 209; 8. SFA, 250; 9. Tulane, 282; 10. UT-Rio Grande Valley, 316; 11. Houston, 319; 12. North Texas, 354; 13. Sam Houston State, 357; 14. Lamar, 357; 15. McNeese State, 405.