Aggie Men Second, Women Fourth in Arturo Barrios Invitational

Saturday, October 19

College Station

9:00 AM

Texas A&M

Arturo Barrios Invitational

Oct 19, 2019 | Cross Country

Men's Results - Arturo Barrios Inv 2019 Women's Results - Arturo Barrios Inv 2019

COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M men finished second and the Aggie women placed fourth among a field of 28 teams during the second annual Arturo Barrios Invitational held on the Dale Watts ('71) Cross Country Course on Saturday morning.

"The men did a nice job of executing," noted Texas A&M assistant coach Wendel McRaven. "At Missouri we got a little impatient early and faded some at the end. Today we did the opposite. We knew it was a big field, it was going to go out fast, and the first mile on this course runs fast.

"We were in ninth place at the 2k split, then at 5.7k we were in fifth place. At the end of the race we were in second place. They just kept closing to the end."

Eric Casarez finished sixth to lead the A&M men as they totaled 165 points to place second behind Middle Tennessee State, the No. 17 team in the nation, who won the team title with 41 points. Cal Baptist finished third with 172 points while Florida (193) and Tennessee (217) rounded out the top five.

"Eric did a nice job in his second race with us and the first time in a big race like this," said McRaven. "It was really impressive."

Middle Tennessee runners finished 1-2 with Jacob Choge (23:26.9) and Kigen Chemadi (23:28.0) on the 8,000m course amid a field of 230 runners. The Blue Raiders had four finishers among the top 10, with runners three and four placing fifth and 10^th while their fifth runner finished 24^th.

The Texas A&M senior combo of Kelsie Warren and Ashley Driscoll placed third and fifth in the women's field of 242 runners. Warren covered the 6,000m course in 20:17.3 while Driscoll followed in 20:31.8. Texas A&M totaled 121 points to finish fourth in team scoring.

"Kelsie and Ashley looked like veterans and ran like they belonged up there with the lead pack," said McRaven. "They were excited to be back on our home course and race after the long stretch we had of not racing. They're in a really good position heading into the post season."

Warren noted: "It was exciting since this is our senior year and last home meet in cross country. I kind of haven't let that sink in yet. I just went out there and had a lot of fun. It's exciting to get out there and run with the pack, and test the legs. Putting our training to use was fun."

Florida's Jessica Pascoe claimed the individual victory in 20:00.4 over a 20:15.6 by Eusila Chepkemei of Middle Tennessee. Pascoe is the defending SEC champion and was the runner-up in the Barrios Invitational last season.

Cal Baptist scored 75 points to claim the women's team title over Middle Tennessee State, who totaled 81. Scoring 117 points placed Florida third, four points ahead of the Aggies, while Arizona State placed fifth with 146 points.

Casarez, who ran with the leaders for a good portion of the race, clocked a time of 23:49.6 to pace the Aggie crew. Jon Bishop (24:25.7) and Zephyr Seagraves (24:26.3) were the next pair of A&M runners to finish, placing 25^th and 27^th, respectively. Gavin Hoffpauir (24:58.5) placed 53^rd and Johnathon Blaine (25:02.1) finished 60^th to round out Texas A&M's team score. Joel Potter (25:04.5) led the rest of the Aggie crew as the sixth runner in placing 63^rd.

"I knew the lead pack today was going to be deeper than it was at Missouri," noted Casarez. "My goal coming in was to get top 10, stay with the lead pack and make my move after 5k. Just being able to stick with the leaders as long as I did let me know that my training is getting better every week.

"It was special to race on the course today, because we train here quite a bit and it's nice to get a feel of your home turf. This is my first home race I've had while I've been in college. It was nice to have family and friends come out and see me race."

Abbey Santoro led the rest of the Aggie women's crew as she ran 21:31.7 and placed 35^th. Julia Black (21:35.7) and Megan Hopper (21:40.6) completed A&M's team score, finishing 41^st and 46^th, respectively. Carrie Fish (21:58.3) raced in her first meet of the season and placed 64^th with Laura Fairchild (22:02.4) finishing 72^nd as A&M's sixth and seventh runners.

Other Aggies in the men's race included Harrison Tillman (94^th, 25:29.3), Juan Arcila (118^th, 25:48.1), Colton Colonna (125^th, 25:58.7).

A&M finishers in the women's race included Sara Pia (100^th, 22:23.8), Olivia Arriaza (106^th, 22:25.8), Lauryn Barrientos (134^th, 22:47.6), Emily Chastain (145^th, 23:06.9), Emily McCollum (149^th, 23:07.8), Audrey McKnight (159^th, 23:17.2), Kylie Purifoy (165^th, 23:21.6), Catalina Cerda (176^th, 23:34.3) and Rebecca Bonta (177^th, 23:34.9).

TEAM SCORES – Arturo Barrios Invitational

MEN: 1. Middle Tennessee State, 41; 2. Texas A&M, 165; 3. Cal Baptist, 172; 4. Florida, 193; 5. Tennessee, 217; 6. Pittsburgh, 237; 7. Arizona State, 237; 8. Idaho State, 242; 9. Rice, 254; 10. Northern Colorado, 288; 11. Texas Tech, 297; 12. UT Arlington, 303; 13. UTRGV, 331; 14. LSU, 343; 15. North Texas, 353; 16. Abilene Christian, 391; 17. Texas State, 418; 18. McNeese State, 427; 19. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 427; 20. Incarnate Word, 452; 21. Stephen F. Austin, 463; 22. Baylor, 479; 23. Tulane, 508; 24. Trinity, 718; 25. UTSA, 730; 26. TCU, 811.

WOMEN: 1. Cal Baptist, 75; 2. Middle Tennessee State, 81; 3. Florida, 117; 4. Texas A&M, 121; 5. Arizona State, 146; 6. Texas Tech, 225; 7. Gonzaga, 247; 8. Pittsburgh, 261; 9. Texas, 284; 10. Idaho State, 318; 11. Stephen F. Austin, 332; 12. Baylor, 349; 13. UTRGV, 354; 14. Abilene Christian, 386; 15. LSU, 426; 16. Texas State, 454; 17. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 474; 18. SMU, 517; 19. McNeese State, 522; 20. Tulane, 545; 21. North Texas, 559; 22. UT Arlington, 573; 23. Incarnate Word, 587; 24. UTSA, 693; 25. Trinity, 708; 26. TCU, 708.