The Texas A&M men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the NCAA South Central Regional at their very own Watts Cross Country Course in College Station on Friday, Nov. 11. The men’s cross country team competed in the 10,000-meter race, and the women’s cross country team competed in the 6,000-meter race.
The Aggie women’s cross country team finished fourth out of the 27 schools that competed, and the men’s cross country team finished third out of the 27 schools that competed. Both teams improved on last year’s performance as they both finished sixth in 2021.
The women’s team scored 156 points en route to getting to a fourth-place finish, and the men’s team scored 108 to get a third-place finish.
There were 179 contestants in the women’s 6,000-meter competition. Seniors Abby Santoro and Julia Abell were the first Aggies to finish as they placed 16th and 18th with times of 20:54.6 and 21:03.9. Sophomore Maddie Livingston followed up with a 33rd place finish with a time of 21:21.2. To cap off the top-50, freshman Kennady Fontenot finished 40th with a time of 21:29.3 and sophomore Mary Grace Rodriguez finished 49th with a time of 21:49.5.
There were 167 contestants in the men’s 10,000-meter competition. Sophomore Jonathan Chung finished sixth with a time of 30:35.1. Junior Eric Casarez finished 15th with a time of 31:13.1, and senior Gavin Hoffpauir finished 20th with a time of 31:23.0. Junior Chandon Chikkara finished 26th with a time of 31:34.8 and Siddharth Jayaraman finished 41st with a time of 32:02.0 to finish off the top 50.
Chung will represent the Aggies at the NCAA Cross Country Championship in Stillwater, Okla., on Saturday, Nov. 19.
According to 12thman.com, A&M distance coach Wendell McRaven is proud of what both teams were able to accomplish at this regional.
“We’re a little disappointed in the outcome, but I’m proud of all the girls,” McRaven said. “Jonathan Chung, Eric Casarez and Gavin Hoffpauir were All-Region on the men’s side. I know Eric [Casarez] is disappointed in his race, but he put himself out there, and we’ll take this result.”
Both A&M cross country coach Pat Henry and McRaven were very proud of Chung for qualifying for nationals.
“He ran a fearless race,” McRaven said. “He’s a guy that’s put in the work and is reaping the benefits of it. He might be a 10k guy after all. I’m really proud of him. He took a chance, and it paid off.”
“Jonathan Chung is not usually our top finisher, but today he was,” Henry said. “That’s what it’s about. I’m ecstatic for the day he had.”