Texas A&M won first place overall in its home meet, the Texas A&M Invitational at the Watts Cross Country Course on Friday, Sept. 16. The A&M men’s team had a 1-2-3 place finish led by junior runner Eric Casarez. Casarez, being named SEC runner of the week, led the pack with a finish time of 23:54.8 on the 8k.
Following a distance was Fightin’ Farmer sophomore Jonathon Chung. Chung finished with a time of 24:05.6, just 9.2 seconds behind Casarez, and was leading third place finisher sophomore Chandon Chhikara. The Aggies also had finishers in fifth place and sixth place.
The women’s team dominated in similar fashion to the men. Placing three out of the top five finishers. The trio of seniors Grace Plain, Julia Abell (Black), and Abbey Santaro won third, fourth, and fifth respectively.
The women’s team played a large role in the maroon and white’s domination in the meet.
“The women did a good job today,” distance coach Wendal McRaven said to 12thman.com. “Our top pack stayed together early on and competed all the way to the finish line.”
Overall, the A&M placed first overall and won the meet at home. The Aggies will continue their fall running season at Goodman Campus XC Course in Bethlehem, Pa. on Sept. 30 at 8:30 a.m.