Aggies host NCAA South Central Region meet Friday on Watts course

Friday, November 9

College Station

9:15 a.m.

Texas A&M

NCAA South Central Regional

Nov 05, 2018 | Cross Country

2018 NCAA South Central program Box Draw South Central Men's Entries South Central Women's Entries South Central Women's 6K Course Map Men's 10K Course Map

COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M serves as host of the NCAA South Central Region meet for the second consecutive year and third time over the past four seasons on the Dale Watts cross country course this Friday, with the women's 6,000m race at 9:15 a.m. followed by the men's 10,000m race at 10:15 a.m.

At stake are automatic berths to the NCAA Championship field as the top two teams in each race advance along with the top four individuals not associated with a qualifying team. Each school in the meet can only compete with seven runners as the top five finishers from a school compile their team score.

The Arkansas women, ranked No. 5 nationally following an SEC title, head into the South Central meet having won the past seven region team titles. During that run of victories by the Razorbacks, Texas has finished runner-up four times with Baylor runner-up twice.

Arkansas's men, who rank 19^th nationally and were runner-up in the recent SEC Championships, seek a sixth consecutive region title. Texas, third in the Big 12, have been runner-up in the region the past five years.

"On the men's side it's Arkansas and Texas, then us," noted Texas A&M assistant coach Wendel McRaven. "On the women's side it's pretty similar with Arkansas and Texas, then maybe Rice and us. If we run well we should be in that mix."

Recent regional rankings for the South Central include Arkansas, Texas, UT Rio Grande Valley, Texas A&M and UT Arlington among the top five men's teams while the women's top five include Arkansas, Texas, SMU, Rice and Texas A&M.

The Texas A&M men have finished third in the region meet twice in the past three seasons, including last year when Jon Bishop and Christian Farris qualified as individuals for the national meet. The Aggie women finished sixth last season.

"We tend to run pretty well at the regional meet, especially when it's at home," stated McRaven. "Last year our men were a close third to Texas, which was both satisfying, since we ran really well, and disappointing, because we didn't get second place.

"On the women's side we finished sixth, which was our best race of the year, and we're better this year. It's a matter of lining up and taking care of business."

Top returning individuals within the South Central region include Tulane's Emmanuel Rotich, a two-time defending men's champion along with Alex Rogers of Texas, who placed third last year, and Texas A&M's Bishop, who finished fourth.

Rogers is one of four Longhorns returning who placed among the top 23 last season. The Razorbacks have a pair of returners who finished among the top 33 a year ago in Matt Young and Kyle Levermore while featurng this year's SEC champion in Gilbert Boit.

Carina Viljoen of Arkansas is the top returner on the women's side, having finished as the runner-up in 2017. SMU's Hannah Miller finished seventh last season after being fourth in 2016.

Three other Razorbacks - Taylor Werner, Lauren Gregory, and Sydney Brown - follow Viljoen from top 15 efforts in last year's race while newcomer Katrina Robinson led the team as runner-up in the SEC meet.

Texas women counter with five Longhorns who placed among the top 30 in 2017, led by Destiny Collins, who finished 10th last season and recently placed fourth in the Big 12 Championships.

In addition to Bishop, Jacob Perry could contend for individual qualification to the national meet as the men move up in distance to 10,000m from 8,000m.

"It's hard to predict with Jon, since he has missed the last two meets with a staph infection," said McRaven. "So, now he's back training and it'll be a challenge for him to see where he's at, probably a bit more mentally than physically.

"Jacob finished in the top 20 of the SEC Championships, and Jon was 23^rd in the conference meet last year and then placed fourth in the region meet. Jacob, in the back of his mind, knows that he's seen better competition in the SEC meet than he will see in the regional meet. Going to the 10k distance is a plus for Jacob, since his strength is going a longer distance."

On the women's side Kelsie Warren and Ashley Driscoll have each paced the team this season as they lead a crew of younger runners.

"Kelsie needs to keep progressing," noted McRaven. "She had some physical problems earlier in the season. While she was happy with parts of her race in the SEC meet, she knows she can race better than that."

In addition to Warren and Driscoll, the Aggie women's initial entrants include Lauryn Barrientos, Rachel Bernardo, Julia Black, Valarie Bradley, Lizette Chapa, Carrie Fish, Nikki Keys, and Abbey Santoro.

Joining Bishop and Perry among the men's initial entrants are Eli Canal, Taylor Clayton, Gavin Hoffpauir, Noah Jacobs, Wes McPhail, Brandt Preston, Zephyr Seagraves and Harrison Tillman.

Each team will select a set of seven runners per gender to compete in the South Central region meet during a technical meeting on Thursday evening.