The Texas A&M cross country team will travel to Columbia, Mo., on Friday to compete at the SEC Championship at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course.
The women’s cross country team looks to continue its previous success at the Oct. 29 meet after leaving Columbia with a win at the last Gains Creek Classic. The men’s team looks to improve after finishing seventh last time out, despite junior Eric Casarez’s first place finish.
Senior Abbey Santoro competed at the Gains Creek Classic earlier in the season and finished in 13th, recording a time of 21:27.1. Santoro said she is excited to participate in the SEC Championship.
“It is going to be another good opportunity to get out there and race,” Santoro told 12th Man. “We previewed the course about two weeks ago so everyone on the trip has run there before, so we know what to expect as far as what the course is going to look like.”
At the last outing, the women’s team finished first overall, scoring 64 points. Missouri was not far behind, scoring only three more points than the Aggies to finish with 67.
Senior Eric Casarez returns to Gains Creek two weeks after successfully breaking the course record and winning the men’s 8K. Casarez said he won’t let his accomplishment deter him from the main goal.
“I don’t go into races thinking about [the course record],” Casarez told 12th Man. “I’m looking forward to the next race and to help the team win the SEC and to do the best that I can.”
Cross country head coach Wendel McRaven told 12th Man he is looking forward to the SEC championships.
“This is the time of year we train for,” McRaven said. “This is the fun time of the year. Everything we do leading up to this, all of the regular season meets are building blocks to get to the championship time of the season.”
The men’s 8K will start at 10:08 a.m. and the women’s 6K at 10:50 a.m. The match will be broadcast live on the SEC Network. Viewers can follow along here for live splits and stats.