In front of 2,372 spectators, the Texas A&M men’s cross country squad placed third while the women took ninth at Friday’s seventh-annual Arturo Barrios Invitational in College Station. The Aggies hosted 40 other universities to conclude their 2024 regular season campaign at the Watts Cross Country Course.
For the Maroon and White, the men scored 153 points out of 38 schools, while the women placed in the top 10 out of 41 schools with 294 points. Both the men’s and women’s teams are ranked No. 6 in the South Central Region by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Texas Tech claimed victory for the men’s division with 62 points, and Boise State took second after scoring 98 points. Texas Tech freshmen runners Solomon Kipchoge and Ernest Cheruiyot claimed first and second individually. In the women’s division, Gonzaga led the way with 74 points with the Boise State women coming in second with 133 points.
For the fourth consecutive event, sophomore Zach Munger placed highest for the Aggie men with a time of 23 minutes and 9.9 seconds, propelling him to a 17th-place finish out of 368 runners in the 8K event. Freshman Jack Johnston finished in 20th place with a time of 23:13.1.
“I’m really pleased with how the men raced,” distance coach Wendel McRaven said following the races. “I think this is a step up from the A&M Invitational. We ran way better than we did at the A&M Invitational, so it’s a good sign.”
In the women’s division, freshman Maddie Peters led the Maroon and White in the 6K race with a time of 20:09.8, finishing in 33rd place out of 394 athletes. Junior Kennady Fontenot was right behind Peters for the Aggies, clocking a time of 20:17.1 for 41st place.
“The women came out aggressive and got in good position early,” McRaven said. “We were missing a piece today which could have moved us up a couple of spots, but I told the girls last year at this point we were in a similar spot, but we kept getting a bit better every meet and qualified for nationals. We just need to focus on getting a little bit better.”
The Aggies concluded the regular season with a record of 51-26 for the men’s division and 50-32 for the women’s division, with a two-week break before postseason competition begins.
The SEC Championships are scheduled for Friday, Nov. 1, followed by the NCAA South Central Regional on Nov. 15, with A&M hosting both at the Watts Cross Country Course.
