BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M cross country teams will host the Arturo Barrios Invitational Friday at the Dale Watts Cross Country Course. The gun goes off at 8:30 a.m. for the men’s 8k race, followed by the women running the 6k course at 9:15 a.m.
“We are expected to see 40 plus teams on the starting line this year,” distance coach Wendel McRaven said. “It’s going to be the biggest Barrios meet we’ve ever had, and it will be another good test for us. This meet will give us a chance to see where we stand ahead of the SEC Championships.”
Arturo Barrios is a member of the Texas A&M Athletics Hall of Fame class of 1998. During his time in Aggieland, Barrios set school records in the 3,000m steeplechase, 5,000m, and 10,000m races and was a three-time Southwest Conference Champion. In 1985, he was a silver medalist in the NCAA Championships in the 10,000m with a record time of 28:42.77. After graduating from Texas A&M, Barrios represented Mexico in the 1988 Olympic Games setting world records at distances of 10,000m, 20,000m and one-hour run.
Last time out, the Aggies competed in Boston with the women placing third and men fifth at the Battle in Beantown. Leading the Aggie women to a top-three finish was Maddie Livingston who placed 11th with a time of 17:30.9. She was followed by Madison Brown (12th), Kennady Fontenot (14th), Shewaye Johnson (23rd) and Emma Little (49th) as the team totaled 107 points.
Eric Casarez led the Maroon & White men’s team, securing fifth place with a time of 23:55.7. Rounding out the scoring for A&M was Jonathan Chung (11th), Jack Johnston (29th), Aiden Gonzalez-Rodiles (40th) and Joseph Benn (44th), for a team total of 124 points.
Last year at the Arturo Barrios Invitational, the men’s squad won the event for the first time in program history, with a total of 71 points, while the women’s team placed fourth with 105 points.
There will be a field of 42 teams alongside Texas A&M competing at the invitational, including Arkansas State, Baylor, Boston College, Connecticut, Eastern Michigan, Georgia Tech, Houston, Houston Christian, Incarnate Word, Indiana, Kennesaw State, Lamar, Louisiana, Louisville, LSU, Marshall, McNeese State, New Mexico State, Nicholls State, North Texas, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Rice, SMU, South Dakota State, Stephen F. Austin, TAMU Corpus Christi, TAMU Texarkana, TCU,…
CLICK HERE to Read the Full Original Article at Texas A&M Athletics – 12thMan.com…