Friday, September 1
College Station
6:45 p.m.
Texas A&M
vs
Aggie Opener
Texas A&M sweeps team titles in Aggie Opener, Alex Riba wins men's race
Sep 01, 2017 | Cross Country
COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M swept a pair of team titles as they started the 2017 cross country season hosting the Aggie Opener on Friday evening at the Dale Watts course.
"It's a good start and it's always nice to win at home," noted Texas A&M assistant coach Wendel McRaven. "It's still early September and it looked like they had fun. They did what we talked about prior to the race in working together."
Senior Alex Riba led the Texas A&M men with an individual victory as the Aggies totaled 26 points with its first five finishers to better Texas (36), Incarnate Word (75) and UT-Rio Grande Valley (101).
Riba covered the 6,000-meter course in a time of 18 minutes, 14.5 seconds with Longhorn Garek Bielaczyc runner-up in 18:19.0, just a step ahead of Texas A&M senior Christian Farris, who placed third with a time of 18:19.1. Jon Bishop (18:29.8), Brandt Preston (18:35.1) and Taylor Clayton (18:48.8) rounded out the Aggies scoring five as they placed fifth, seventh and 14th.
"I haven't been able to run as much cross country throughout my career, so having success on the track this past year has really made me look forward to this cross country season," said Riba. "I'm excited to be back and be part of the distance team. The confidence from a team win always helps, but we know there are things we still need to work on."
The Aggies top five finished with team scores of 1-3-5-6-11 for the 26-point tally as Texas finished 2-4-7-10-13 in scoring 36 points.
"I think the men wanted to stay as relaxed as they possible could for the first meet since most of them will race again next week," said McRaven. "Alex Riba and Christian Farris are all-region level guys and they cruised along and were working together."
Texas A&M women totaled 24 points for the team victory over Texas (47), Incarnate Word (70) and UT-Rio Grande Valley (107).
Longhorn sophomore Destiny Collins won the women's 4,100m race in 14:05.3 and was followed by three Texas A&M runners. Aggie sophomore Ashley Driscoll led the trio as runner-up in 14:22.7. Ashton Hutcherson, another Texas A&M sophomore, finished third in 14:39.1 while Aggie senior Kelsey Persyn placed fourth in 14:46.1.
"On the women's side, I'm really pleased," said McRaven. "We held out a couple of girls who will be in our top five. The top three for us today – Driscoll, Hutcherson and Persyn – looked like they went away this summer and came back better than they left. That's the key to being good at this level."
After a 2-3-4 finish from the first three runners, Texas A&M added a seventh and eighth from the fourth and fifth runners – juniors Hannah Campbell (14:56.0) and Kaitlin Tanner (14:57.3) – while Aggie frosh Maddie Vondra (14:59.6) placed ninth as the sixth runner for Texas A&M. Following the win by Collins, the next four Texas runners were 6-11-14-15.
The next batch of finishers for the Aggie men after the top five included Jacob Perry (18th, 18:57.1), Johnathon Blaine (22nd, 19:06.7), Nicko Enochs (23rd, 19:07.7), Sam Erickson (24th, 19:08.4), Raymond Gonzales (31st, 19:28.9), and Juan Uribe (36th, 19:36.7).
Texas A&M also ran some true freshman unattached to start the season and a pair on the men's side – Ryan Yerrow (18:34.2) and Ryan Trahan (18:37.3) – both finished among the top 10 in placing sixth and eighth, respectively.
"I'm really pleased with the freshman guys that ran unattached," stated McRaven. "They did a nice job."
Lauryn Barrientos (15:07.4) placed 13th in the women's race and was Texas A&M's seventh runner. She was followed by Kylie Purifoy (16th, 15:22.2), Lizette Chapa (22nd, 15:34.4), Michelle Myers (24th, 15:43.6), Morgan Michals (25th, 15:44.2), and Olivia Arriaza (32nd, 15:54.1).
AGGIE OPENER, September 1, 2017 – Team Scores
Men: 1. Texas A&M, 26; 2. Texas, 36; 3. Incarnate Word, 75; 4. UT-Rio Grande Valley, 101.
Women: 1. Texas A&M, 24; 2. Texas, 47; 3. Incarnate Word, 70; 4. UT-Rio Grande Valley, 107.
"It's a good start and it's always nice to win at home," noted Texas A&M assistant coach Wendel McRaven. "It's still early September and it looked like they had fun. They did what we talked about prior to the race in working together."
Senior Alex Riba led the Texas A&M men with an individual victory as the Aggies totaled 26 points with its first five finishers to better Texas (36), Incarnate Word (75) and UT-Rio Grande Valley (101).
Riba covered the 6,000-meter course in a time of 18 minutes, 14.5 seconds with Longhorn Garek Bielaczyc runner-up in 18:19.0, just a step ahead of Texas A&M senior Christian Farris, who placed third with a time of 18:19.1. Jon Bishop (18:29.8), Brandt Preston (18:35.1) and Taylor Clayton (18:48.8) rounded out the Aggies scoring five as they placed fifth, seventh and 14th.
"I haven't been able to run as much cross country throughout my career, so having success on the track this past year has really made me look forward to this cross country season," said Riba. "I'm excited to be back and be part of the distance team. The confidence from a team win always helps, but we know there are things we still need to work on."
The Aggies top five finished with team scores of 1-3-5-6-11 for the 26-point tally as Texas finished 2-4-7-10-13 in scoring 36 points.
"I think the men wanted to stay as relaxed as they possible could for the first meet since most of them will race again next week," said McRaven. "Alex Riba and Christian Farris are all-region level guys and they cruised along and were working together."
Texas A&M women totaled 24 points for the team victory over Texas (47), Incarnate Word (70) and UT-Rio Grande Valley (107).
Longhorn sophomore Destiny Collins won the women's 4,100m race in 14:05.3 and was followed by three Texas A&M runners. Aggie sophomore Ashley Driscoll led the trio as runner-up in 14:22.7. Ashton Hutcherson, another Texas A&M sophomore, finished third in 14:39.1 while Aggie senior Kelsey Persyn placed fourth in 14:46.1.
"On the women's side, I'm really pleased," said McRaven. "We held out a couple of girls who will be in our top five. The top three for us today – Driscoll, Hutcherson and Persyn – looked like they went away this summer and came back better than they left. That's the key to being good at this level."
After a 2-3-4 finish from the first three runners, Texas A&M added a seventh and eighth from the fourth and fifth runners – juniors Hannah Campbell (14:56.0) and Kaitlin Tanner (14:57.3) – while Aggie frosh Maddie Vondra (14:59.6) placed ninth as the sixth runner for Texas A&M. Following the win by Collins, the next four Texas runners were 6-11-14-15.
The next batch of finishers for the Aggie men after the top five included Jacob Perry (18th, 18:57.1), Johnathon Blaine (22nd, 19:06.7), Nicko Enochs (23rd, 19:07.7), Sam Erickson (24th, 19:08.4), Raymond Gonzales (31st, 19:28.9), and Juan Uribe (36th, 19:36.7).
Texas A&M also ran some true freshman unattached to start the season and a pair on the men's side – Ryan Yerrow (18:34.2) and Ryan Trahan (18:37.3) – both finished among the top 10 in placing sixth and eighth, respectively.
"I'm really pleased with the freshman guys that ran unattached," stated McRaven. "They did a nice job."
Lauryn Barrientos (15:07.4) placed 13th in the women's race and was Texas A&M's seventh runner. She was followed by Kylie Purifoy (16th, 15:22.2), Lizette Chapa (22nd, 15:34.4), Michelle Myers (24th, 15:43.6), Morgan Michals (25th, 15:44.2), and Olivia Arriaza (32nd, 15:54.1).
AGGIE OPENER, September 1, 2017 – Team Scores
Men: 1. Texas A&M, 26; 2. Texas, 36; 3. Incarnate Word, 75; 4. UT-Rio Grande Valley, 101.
Women: 1. Texas A&M, 24; 2. Texas, 47; 3. Incarnate Word, 70; 4. UT-Rio Grande Valley, 107.
Players Mentioned
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
NCAA Championships Preview: Wendel. McRaven
Monday, November 17
NCAA Regional Preview: Wendel McRaven
Wednesday, November 12
SEC Championships Preview: Wendel McRaven
Monday, October 28
NCAA Championships Preview: Wendel McRaven
Tuesday, November 14
