Against a packed field, the Texas A&M cross country teams found success in their last home meet of the season, with the men placing second and the women fourth in the second annual Arturo Barrios Invitational at the Dale Watts Cross Country Course on Saturday.
To lead the men to a second-place finish behind Middle Tennessee State, Eric Casarez finished sixth.
A&M coach Wendel McRaven said Casarez’s performance was impressive, considering it was only his second race with the team.
”Eric did a nice job in his second race with us and the first time in a big race like this,” McRaven told 12thman.com. “It was really impressive.”
Casarez said he knew the competition would be different than in his first meet but felt comfortable running on a familiar course.
“I knew the lead pack was going to be deeper than it was at Missouri,” Casarez told 12thman.com “It was special to race the course today because we train here quite a bit and it’s nice to get a feel of your home turf. This was my first home race I’ve had while I’ve been in college. It was nice to have family and friends come out and see me race.”
Jacob Choge and Kigen Chemadi led for Middle Tennessee in the 8,000-meter course with first- and second-place finishes. Middle Tennessee had two other runners in the top 10 in fifth and 10th place.
The next Aggie finishers were senior Jon Bishop in 25th and junior Zephyr Seagraves in 27th.
Gavin Hoffpauir finished 53rd and Johnathon Blaine finished 60th.
The women’s team finished in fourth place behind California Baptist, Middle Tennessee State and Florida.
The senior duo of Kelsie Warren and Ashley Driscoll led the Aggies in the 6,000m race with third and fifth place finishes. Behind them were Abbey Santoro, Julia Black and Megan Hopper in 35th, 41st and 45th.
Warren said there was added sentiment as this was her last home meet.
“It was exciting since this our senior year and last home meet in cross country,” Warren told 12thman.com. “I kind of haven’t let that sink in yet. I just went out there and had a lot of fun. It’s exciting to get out there and run with the pack, and test the legs. Putting our training to use was fun.”
The Aggies will next take the field in the SEC Championship in Lexington, Kentucky on November 1.