Texas A&M women’s cross country took first place, while the men finished third at the NCAA South Central Regional in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Friday, Nov. 14. Home to the Arkansas Razorbacks, Agri Park hosted a total of 31 women’s teams and 32 men’s teams.
On the women’s side, sophomore Joyce Kemboi and freshman Debora Cherono both placed inside the top 10 for the Aggies in the 6K, finishing fourth with a time of 19:55.4 and seventh at 20:03.1, respectively. A&M had three other runners finish inside the top 25, with sophomore Megan Roberts finishing 12th with a time of 20:23.9, freshman Sophia Bendet placed 23rd at 21:08.1 and right on her tail was senior Elise Smoot, who placed 25th at 21:09.2.
The Aggie women won the meet with a total of 71 points, comfortably ahead of second-place LSU, which had 86 points. Tulane came in third with 108 points, followed by Arkansas and SMU to round out the top five.
“Joyce [Kemboi], Debora [Cherono] and Megan [Roberts] are a good core group at the front,” coach Wendel McRaven said in a press release. “They do a great job training together. Sophia [Bendet], our freshman, is right behind them. She’s ready to have a great race and to be right there with them at the regional meet. They will have to set the tone for us. I told them after the SEC meet they ran conservatively. I said we need to stick our noses in there. We need to have two or three girls in the top 10 at the regional meet, and we are capable of doing that.”
For the men, junior Jack Johnston continued his impressive postseason for the Aggies, placing a team-best ninth overall in the 8K with a time of 29:48.4. The Aggies had six runners finish inside the top 30 with senior Cooper Cawthra finishing 14th overall at 30:11.2, junior Youssef Asslouj placing 17th overall with a time of 30:23.4, senior Victor Kibiego coming in 18th at 30:27.4, junior Carter Gordy placing 26th at 30:53.8 and freshman Gavin Chapa rounding out the group in 27th at 30:57.3.
The Aggie men placed third with a total of 83 points. Tulane won the event with 44 points, and the hosting Arkansas put up a close second with 46 points. The Aggies finished in front of the fourth-place Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks and fifth-place Texas Longhorns.
“It’s been great having Cooper [Cawthra] back,” McRaven said in a press release. “He provides the leadership on the course, but he had a rough day at the SEC meet, and Jack Johnston stepped up and took care of business for us, and did a nice job, and they provide good leadership. Yousseff [Asslouj] and Victor [Kibiego], even though it’s their first year running for Texas A&M in cross country, they have a wealth of experience, and they will be our key.”
The Aggies came into the NCAA South Central Regional after both teams placed sixth at the SEC Cross Country Championships at Cherokee Farm XC Course on Oct. 31. Since the A&M women finished as a top-two team in the regional, it will automatically move on to the NCAA Championships at the Gans Creek XC Course on Saturday, Nov. 22.
The men’s team will rely on an at-large selection to advance to the championships. Regardless of whether or not the men’s team is selected, Jack Johnston will automatically advance to the championships since he was one of the top-four finishers of those not running for an automatic qualifier.
