Aggies return to Georgia for SEC Cross Country Championships

Friday, October 27

Athens, Ga.

9 a.m.

Texas A&M

SEC Championships

Oct 24, 2017 | Cross Country

ATHENS, Georgia – Texas A&M's cross country teams make a return visit to the University of Georgia golf course for the SEC Championships, which will be held on Friday, Oct. 27. The men's 8,000-meter race begins at 10 a.m. (ET), followed by the women's 6,000-meter race at 11 a.m.

The Aggies ran on the same course during the Bulldog SEC Preview in early September, gaining racing experience on the challenging, hilly course.

"We had a pretty positive experience the last time we were there," noted Texas A&M assistant coach Wendel McRaven. "It was a bit of dress rehearsal, so the team could see the course and get some experience racing on it.

"The SEC Championships are always tough, the teams always care about doing well in the conference meet. If we run the way we're capable, we are going to do pretty well."

This will be the sixth SEC Championship in cross country the Aggies have contested. Both Texas A&M squads have posted a runner-up performance as their best team finish, the women in 2013 and the men in 2015. Last year, the Aggie men placed seventh with the women finishing 11^th.

"On both sides we have teams that have indicated they can run with just about anybody," said McRaven. "We'll go into the meet trying to build on what we've done all season. We've had great training and some really good races along the way.

"The goal during the championship portion of the season is to back off the training a bit, allow everyone to get their legs back underneath them, and then have everyone clicking on all cylinders."

Nationally-ranked teams in the conference include Arkansas (No. 6), Georgia (No. 16), and Mississippi (No. 22) in the women's field. On the men's side, the nationally-ranked squads include Mississippi (No. 16) and Arkansas (No. 27) with Alabama receiving votes for the top 30 poll.

Arkansas men have won seven consecutive league titles, claiming the last two titles with scores of 25 points, while Mississippi placed second to the Razorbacks in 2014 and 2016 by margins of six and 13 points, respectively.

On the women's side, Arkansas has won the past four conference championships. Georgia has finished 10^th in the SEC meet the past three years while Mississippi placed second a year ago, 30 points behind the Razorbacks.

The Aggies have developed a solid leading crew of three runners on both the men's and women's teams this season. The men's trio consists of Alex Riba, Christian Farris and Jon Bishop while the women's trio includes Kelsie Warren, Ashley Driscoll and Kelsey Persyn.

"We have some good, up-front leadership," stated McRaven. "In our last meet at Alabama, I couldn't have been more pleased with our top three runners on both genders. We didn't back off for the meet, we were still doing long, grinding-type workouts. For our leading crew to run as well as they did was pretty impressive."

Riba, who only raced in the NCAA South Central region meet in 2016, placed 13^th in the 2015 SEC Championships as the second Texas A&M finisher. Three Aggies return from the 2016 SEC meet – Farris (18^th), Bishop (41^st) and Jacob Perry (74^th). Farris (23^rd) also ran in the 2015 conference meet as the fourth Aggie runner.

Texas A&M women have six returning from the 2016 conference meet. Kelsie Warren (45^th) leads that returning crew, followed by Devin Norton (67^th) and Driscoll (88^th). Also competing last season were Lauryn Barrientos, Ashton Hutcherson and Persyn, who finished 51^st in the 2015 SEC race as the second Aggie runner. Hannah Campbell also competed in the 2015 SEC meet.

The men's conference team for Texas A&M will also include Eli Canal, Taylor Clayton, Sam Erickson, Brandt Preston, Zephyr Seagraves and Ryan Yerrow. Also racing for the Aggie women are Olivia Arriaza, Lizette Chapa, and Maddie Vondra.