COLLEGE STATION – Aggie cross country will host the Texas A&M Invitational on Saturday morning at the Dale Watts course and features an 18-team collegiate field along with a high school division.
The men's competition on an 8,000-meter course starts at 8 a.m., followed by the women's 6,000-meter race at 8:45 a.m. High school events, covering a 5,000-meter course, begin at 9:15 a.m. Live results will be available on the flashresults.com website - http://flashresults.com/2018_Meets/xc/TAMUInvite/.
"It's always great to run on our home course," said Texas A&M assistant coach Wendel McRaven. "I think a lot of our kids look forward to being here with their peers, competing against teams from the South Central region and racing in front of their parents, friends and the whole track team. It makes it a fun environment.
"I just want to see us keep getting better. This time of the season it's just about working hard and getting ready for the meets that are going to really matter at the end of October and in November. We want them to keep perfecting the little things."
Schools scheduled to compete in the collegiate competition include Central Arkansas, Houston, Lamar, LSU, Louisiana-Lafayette, McNeese State, North Texas, Prairie View A&M, Rice, Sam Houston State, Southeastern Louisiana, Southeastern Oklahoma (w), Texas A&M-Kingsville, Texas State, TCU, Texas Wesleyan (m) and UT-Arlington.
The high school division will feature over 1,200 runners between varsity and junior varsity races from 42 boys teams and 37 girls teams entered in the meet.
The collegiate men's field will include 11 teams currently ranked among the top 15 in the South Central region while the women's field has six teams from the top 15. The Watts course will serve as host of the NCAA South Central region meet on November 10.
"We're excited about this meet and it should be a good preview for the region meet," noted McRaven. "This meet will give us the feel of being in a bigger meet than we've had so far this season. We will have better quality and quantity with the teams competing on our course. There will be some good individuals in the race and some good teams."
Challenging for a third consecutive team victory this season, the Aggie men have been led by Alex Riba in each race. Riba won the Aggie Opener on a 6,000m course as Texas A&M scored 26 points to finish ahead of Texas (36). In the Bulldog SEC Preview hosted by Georgia, Riba placed fifth on the 8,000m course as the Aggies scored 49 points to better Georgia Tech (56) and finish ahead of four SEC schools among a seven-team field.
Riba earned SEC Runner of the Week honors after winning the Aggie Opener. Ryan Yerrow claimed SEC Freshman of the Week for his performance in the Bulldog SEC Preview, finishing as the top freshman overall with a 10th-place finish.
Joining Riba and Yerrow in the Texas A&M Invitational will be a crew of 16 Aggies in addition to three freshmen running unattached.
"With the men we there is a good combination of upperclassmen leadership with Alex Riba and Christian Farris," said McRaven. "Now we've added a freshman class where three or four runners are contributing and can have an impact. The freshmen are running a lot better at 8k and the longer distance stuff than I would have guessed. Sometimes it's hard to predict with someone coming out of high school since they don't race that far."
Ashley Driscoll has led the Aggie women in the first two meets of the season. Driscoll placed second over 4,000m in the Aggie Opener as Texas A&M claimed the team victory over Texas, 24-47. In Georgia, racing over a 6,000m distance, Driscoll finished fifth as the team placed third with 76 points behind Georgia (19) and Georgia Tech (49). The Aggies finished ahead of three SEC squads – South Carolina, Tennessee and LSU.
"The women's team could be a bit of a sleeper team," stated McRaven. "We will hold out one of our top five this week due to an accident one runner had. I'm excited where the women stack up, because we really don't know how good we are yet."
The women's squad will get a boost with Kelsie Warren racing for the first time this fall, but will be missing Ashton Hutcherson, who had a bike accident this past week. The women's team will have 19 racing in addition to three freshmen running unattached.
"Kelsie Warren will race this week and it will be her first race of the season," said McRaven. "She finished the track season on a high note, had a great summer, and then stepped in a hole after finishing a long run prior to us starting cross country practice. She's been looking good and will make her debut for this cross country season."
NCAA South Central region rankings – September 18, 2017
MEN
1. Arkansas
2. Texas
3. UT Arlington
4. Texas A&M
5. Baylor
6. Lamar
7. Rice
8. Texas State
9. North Texas
10. Tulane
11. Louisiana-Lafayette
12. McNeese State
13. Houston
14. Southeastern Louisiana
15. Stephen F. Austin
WOMEN
1. Arkansas
2. Baylor
3. SMU
4. Texas
5. Abilene Christian
6. Texas A&M
7. Rice
8. TCU
9. Stephen F. Austin
10. Tulane
11. North Texas
12. Incarnate Word
13. Lamar
14. Texas A&M – Corpus Christi
15. UT – Rio Grande Valley
The men's competition on an 8,000-meter course starts at 8 a.m., followed by the women's 6,000-meter race at 8:45 a.m. High school events, covering a 5,000-meter course, begin at 9:15 a.m. Live results will be available on the flashresults.com website - http://flashresults.com/2018_Meets/xc/TAMUInvite/.
"It's always great to run on our home course," said Texas A&M assistant coach Wendel McRaven. "I think a lot of our kids look forward to being here with their peers, competing against teams from the South Central region and racing in front of their parents, friends and the whole track team. It makes it a fun environment.
"I just want to see us keep getting better. This time of the season it's just about working hard and getting ready for the meets that are going to really matter at the end of October and in November. We want them to keep perfecting the little things."
Schools scheduled to compete in the collegiate competition include Central Arkansas, Houston, Lamar, LSU, Louisiana-Lafayette, McNeese State, North Texas, Prairie View A&M, Rice, Sam Houston State, Southeastern Louisiana, Southeastern Oklahoma (w), Texas A&M-Kingsville, Texas State, TCU, Texas Wesleyan (m) and UT-Arlington.
The high school division will feature over 1,200 runners between varsity and junior varsity races from 42 boys teams and 37 girls teams entered in the meet.
The collegiate men's field will include 11 teams currently ranked among the top 15 in the South Central region while the women's field has six teams from the top 15. The Watts course will serve as host of the NCAA South Central region meet on November 10.
"We're excited about this meet and it should be a good preview for the region meet," noted McRaven. "This meet will give us the feel of being in a bigger meet than we've had so far this season. We will have better quality and quantity with the teams competing on our course. There will be some good individuals in the race and some good teams."
Challenging for a third consecutive team victory this season, the Aggie men have been led by Alex Riba in each race. Riba won the Aggie Opener on a 6,000m course as Texas A&M scored 26 points to finish ahead of Texas (36). In the Bulldog SEC Preview hosted by Georgia, Riba placed fifth on the 8,000m course as the Aggies scored 49 points to better Georgia Tech (56) and finish ahead of four SEC schools among a seven-team field.
Riba earned SEC Runner of the Week honors after winning the Aggie Opener. Ryan Yerrow claimed SEC Freshman of the Week for his performance in the Bulldog SEC Preview, finishing as the top freshman overall with a 10th-place finish.
Joining Riba and Yerrow in the Texas A&M Invitational will be a crew of 16 Aggies in addition to three freshmen running unattached.
"With the men we there is a good combination of upperclassmen leadership with Alex Riba and Christian Farris," said McRaven. "Now we've added a freshman class where three or four runners are contributing and can have an impact. The freshmen are running a lot better at 8k and the longer distance stuff than I would have guessed. Sometimes it's hard to predict with someone coming out of high school since they don't race that far."
Ashley Driscoll has led the Aggie women in the first two meets of the season. Driscoll placed second over 4,000m in the Aggie Opener as Texas A&M claimed the team victory over Texas, 24-47. In Georgia, racing over a 6,000m distance, Driscoll finished fifth as the team placed third with 76 points behind Georgia (19) and Georgia Tech (49). The Aggies finished ahead of three SEC squads – South Carolina, Tennessee and LSU.
"The women's team could be a bit of a sleeper team," stated McRaven. "We will hold out one of our top five this week due to an accident one runner had. I'm excited where the women stack up, because we really don't know how good we are yet."
The women's squad will get a boost with Kelsie Warren racing for the first time this fall, but will be missing Ashton Hutcherson, who had a bike accident this past week. The women's team will have 19 racing in addition to three freshmen running unattached.
"Kelsie Warren will race this week and it will be her first race of the season," said McRaven. "She finished the track season on a high note, had a great summer, and then stepped in a hole after finishing a long run prior to us starting cross country practice. She's been looking good and will make her debut for this cross country season."
NCAA South Central region rankings – September 18, 2017
MEN
1. Arkansas
2. Texas
3. UT Arlington
4. Texas A&M
5. Baylor
6. Lamar
7. Rice
8. Texas State
9. North Texas
10. Tulane
11. Louisiana-Lafayette
12. McNeese State
13. Houston
14. Southeastern Louisiana
15. Stephen F. Austin
WOMEN
1. Arkansas
2. Baylor
3. SMU
4. Texas
5. Abilene Christian
6. Texas A&M
7. Rice
8. TCU
9. Stephen F. Austin
10. Tulane
11. North Texas
12. Incarnate Word
13. Lamar
14. Texas A&M – Corpus Christi
15. UT – Rio Grande Valley