Cross Country Travels to Mizzou for Gans Creek Classic

Saturday, October 3

Columbia, Mo.

9:00 AM

Texas A&M

Gans Creek Classic

Oct 01, 2020 | Cross Country

Meet Notes Live Stream Live Results

By: Tyler Pounds, Athletics Communications

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Aggie Men's and Women's Cross Country programs are back in action on Saturday, at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course.

"It'll be a good meet and it's always good to compete," assistant coach Wendel McRaven said. "There's limited opportunities this year so we're going to take advantage of everyone we get. We'll see Vanderbilt and Missouri so it will be good to see that competition and give us more of a feel for the SEC."

THE RUNDOWN
The men hit the 8k trail at 9 a.m., followed by the women's 6k race at 10 a.m. It will be the first race of the season for the men and women competing at its respective distances. A&M makes its second appearance on the course since its opening in 2019, and it will serve host to the 2021 SEC Championships.

HOW TO KEEP UP
The meet will be live streamed via the PrimeTime Timing YouTube page, while updates will be provided on Twitter (@aggietfxc). A live results link will be posted on 12thMan.com. Limited spectators will be allowed.

LAST TIME OUT
A&M opened the season on Sept. 19 at the SEC Preview Meet in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The men's team placed third while the women finished fifth. Junior Eric Casarez paced the Maroon & White finishing sixth overall, followed by four other Aggies placing in the top 25. Redshirt freshman Teddy Radtke finished 17th, true freshmen Cooper Cawthra and Jonathan Chung crossed the finish line in 22nd and 24th. Junior Gavin Hoffpauir rounded out the top five finishers for the Aggies placing 25th. A depleted women's squad was led by junior duo Abbey Santoro and Julia Black at 18th and 20th overall. Freshman Katelyn Buckley made her Aggie debut placing 36th overall, while juniors Rachel Bernardo and Laura Fairchild followed in 39th and 40th.

HE SAID, SHE SAID
Junior Gavin Hoffpauir on having a week off in between races…
"We look forward to every new week because each week presents a new set of challenges. Having a week in between races is great. The first race always gets the jitters out of the way and you're able to focus in a little bit more and things become a little more serious."

Junior Carrie Fish on competing with a full team this week…
"We're extremely excited. At LSU we only had five women competing, so Saturday will be our first race as a full team. Even with all the obstacles that have come our way we have all been working really hard. This will be a good opportunity to show others what we have been working towards as a team."

MEN'S PREVIEW
Texas A&M will travel with 10 Aggies to Mizzou. Wes McPhail will make his 2020 debut in the Maroon and White. In 2019, McPhail finished ninth at the Gans Creek Classic and the Aggie men placed second as a team. Radtke will toe the starting line as the top Aggie finisher from the SEC Preview Meet, Eric Casarez will not make the trip. Radtke recorded a 2:44.4 split the last 1,000m at LSU, only five guys ran the last split faster.

WOMEN'S PREVIEW
The Aggies nearly double its entries with nine women this week. Emily Chastain, Megan Hopper, Grace Plain and Fish each will make their 2020 debut. Black returns as the top returner from this race last year, she finished 10th overall at 22:06.1. Santoro clocked 22:20.9 at 14th.

"We're getting more bodies out there," said McRaven. "The women's side is nearly doubled compared to the first meet and the men's side has a smaller group but we add Wes McPhail, it will be good to see where he stacks up."

THE COMPETITION
Arkansas, Vanderbilt and host Missouri will toe the line with the Aggies. The Razorbacks enters its women's team only. Taylor Ewert claimed SEC Co-Runner of the Week after winning the SEC Preview Meet in her collegiate debut. William Sinclair of Missouri was named the SEC Men's Freshman Runner of the Week after pacing the Tigers to a second-place team finish at the Commodore Classic.