Cross Country Toes the Line for SEC Championships

Friday, October 29

Columbia, Mo.

10:00 AM

Texas A&M

SEC Championships

Photo by: Aiden Shertzer

Oct 28, 2021 | Cross Country

Meet Notes SEC Championships Hub

By: Tyler Pounds, Athletics Communications

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Texas A&M men's and women's cross country teams open postseason action at the Southeastern Conference Championships on Friday at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course.

"It's always an exciting time. This is the time of season that you train for. This is the fun time of the year," distance coach Wendel McRaven said. "All the regular season meets are building blocks to get to the championship time of the season."

The gun sounds for the men's 8,000m race at 10:05 a.m., followed by the women's 6,000m race at 11 a.m. Admission to the meet is free. Those unable to attend can watch the action live on the SEC Network with Bill Spaulding (play-by-play) and Larry Rawson (analyst) on the call. Live results are provided through PrimeTime Timing and can be found on 12thMan.com.

A&M last toed the line of the Gans Creek Cross Country Course on Oct. 1 as the women's team claimed the Gans Creek Classic team title, while Eric Casarez won the men's individual title with a course record time of 23:36.5.

"The women's team ran really well the last time we were on the course, hopefully that gives them some confidence," McRaven said. "If they execute how they have been racing then they'll be fine. Eric [Casarez] owns the course record, so that is a cool thing going in there and knowing that the course record holder is one of our own."

Casarez enters the competition having won three of four regular season meets, including two course records. On the women's side, seniors Abbey Santoro and Julia Black, along with freshmen duo Gemma Goddard and Maddie Livingston, the Maroon & White have won three of four team titles this season. In total, A&M has picked up four SEC weekly honors. Livingston has been named women's freshman runner of the week on two occasions (Sept. 28 and Oct. 19), Goddard women's freshman runner of the week once (Sept. 7) and Casarez the men's runner of the week once (Sept. 28).

Texas A&M's women's team is currently ranked No. 3 in the United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association south central region, while the men are No. 5. Five SEC teams enter the championships listed among the nation's top-25 teams. In the women's rankings, Alabama is ranked No. 5, while Ole Miss is No. 11 and Arkansas is No. 15. Arkansas is the highest-ranked SEC men's squad at No. 6, while Alabama is No. 22.

Texas A&M Quotes
Distance Coach Wendel McRaven
on having ran the course four times in last three season…
"I think it's helpful that we've been there a few times. This is the third consecutive year that we competed at the Gans Creek Classic during the regular season. If they weren't hosting the SEC meet this year, we probably would not have gone there during the regular season. With them hosting the SEC meet, it was a no brainer to get back on the course. It helps to know some of those things. It's a positive but also a negative because you remember how long that finishing straight is. Overall, it is good to know the course because you know how to race it.

on the women's team expectations entering the meet…
"We've had a good year so far, it's been really nice to see the progress. I don't put any limits on how good we can be. The goal coming into this season was to be better and move up the ladder. It's hard to tell, we haven't seen everyone in the SEC. We've been able to beat Mizzou and LSU head-to-head. I think we are an upper half of the SEC type of team, we'll see how we stack up. We have no control over what anybody else does, we can only control how we compete. When we won at Mizzou, we weren't even talking about winning we were talking about executing our race plan and focusing on the process when it comes to preparation. Focusing on the process of competing, when you're competing you can't be worried about the end result you have to worry about what you're doing at the time and if you focus on the process and what you're doing and executing the race the way you want, the end result will take care of itself."

Senior Abbey Santoro
on the women's team…
"We're excited. We previewed the course at the beginning of the month, everyone on this team was either on the previous trip or has already ran at Mizzou before so we know what to expect. We have some younger girls on the team, so as upperclassmen we are just giving advice on what to expect heading into a conference meet. Overall, it's another great opportunity to get out there and compete."

on the team's mentality coming off of last season…
"Coming off last year we started at a pretty low place. Going into this season we had the mentality that we are not a last place team in our conference. Some of us older girls who have been on the team have seen the culture of the team shift and develop over the four years that we've been here. I know we are at a good place now. We have a really good group of girls that we are taking to this meet and everyone is excited and ready to compete. The team mentality is really good this year."

Junior Eric Casarez
on if there is pressure being the course record holder…
"I try not to think about that. It's great that I have the course record, but everyday is different. There could be five people on Friday that break my course record, or the field could be a lot slower, you just never know. I love that I have that and it's a great accomplishment but I'm looking forward to Friday's race, helping the team out and doing the best I can."