BIRMINGHAM – Texas A&M cross country’s Laney Barnes was named SEC Women’s Freshman of the Week, the league announced Tuesday.
In the second race of the season, Barnes helped the women to a runner-up finish with another impressive performance, building on her early success. At the Texas A&M Invitational, Barnes earned a 16th-place finish with a time of 17:51.1 and was the highest-finishing freshman from the SEC in the race. Barnes started at a solid pace, going through the 2K mark in 22nd position, but, as was the story for the women’s team, she produced a striking back half, gaining six places over the final 3K.
This marks Barnes’ first weekly award after finishing among the Aggies’ top two runners in each of her first two races of the 2026 season, helping lead the team to a promising start to the year.
The Maroon & White will take the weekend off from competition before traveling to Princeton, N.J., for the Princeton Meadows Challenge on Saturday, September 26. The men will race over 8K, while the women will compete over 5K. The gun goes off for the men at 8:30 a.m., followed by the women at 9:15 a.m.