On Friday, Sept. 30, the Texas A&M cross country team ran at the 48th annual Paul Short Run in Bethlehem, Pa.
The Paul Short Run is hosted by Lehigh University and, according to lehighsports.com, is one of the nation’s largest cross country meets with over 5,500 student athletes from over 450 colleges or high schools, all of whom competed across 12 different races on Friday. The men’s team placed 16th overall in the race, with the women’s team placing 19th.
A&M men and women’s teams ran in the College Gold races alongside other prolific cross-country schools such as Princeton, Georgetown and Villanova. A&M and Rice University were the only teams from Texas to run in the Gold races.
In the Men’s College Gold 8K, Texas A&M placed 16th out of 46 teams with a score of 442.
Junior Eric Casarez ran in the front of the Aggies’ pack placing an impressive sixth out of 416 with a time of 23:14.2. Casarez, a transfer from Oklahoma who hails from Keller Central High School in Fort Worth, has been excellent during his career as an Aggie, as he is the current Dale Watts Cross Country Course record holder and qualified for the 2019 NCAA Cross Country Championships. Casarez is also coming off of a first place finish in the Texas A&M Invitational.
Senior Chandon Chhikara was the next best runner for A&M, placing 65th. Chhikara is a transfer from Pepperdine University, but attended high school at St. Andrew’s Episcopal in Austin. Chhikara had a third place finish in the Texas A&M Invitational.
In the Women’s College Gold 6k, the Aggies placed 19th out of 46 teams with a score of 543.
Grace Plain, a senior, had the best time for the women’s team, 20:32.7, with a placement of 66th out of 416. Plain finished third overall at the Texas A&M Invitational, and currently has the 11th-best time for Texas A&M Outdoor 10,000 meter with 35:15.31.
The next best finisher for the women’s team was senior Julia Abell, who placed 82nd with a time of 20:41.5. Abell comes from Keller High School in Keller, and finished fourth in the Texas A&M Invitational. Abell also has the second-best A&M 3,000 meter Steeplechase time at 10:25.72.
The A&M cross country team will be back in action at the Arturo Barrios Invitational in Bryan at the Watts Cross Country Course on Oct. 15th.
For more information on Texas A&M cross country, visit 12thMan.com or find them on Twitter @aggietfxc.