BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M's Eric Casarez claimed the men's 8k individual title setting a Dale Watts Cross Country Course record, while the Aggies' women's team won the overall team title Saturday morning at the Texas A&M Team Invitational.
"Normally when we host a meet it'll bring some rain, but today we had great weather and our people were ready to run," head coach Pat Henry said. "Eric [Casarez] looked great and the men's team looked good. They got beat by a good North Texas team by one point. They learned today that every single person is important. It's a team competition, everybody counts and I hope they learned that today. The women were a little bit more dominant today. They've got some big time competitions coming their way where they may need to run a little bit better as a group than they did today."
From the moment the gun went off, Casarez asserted his dominance leading the entire men's race before finishing with a course record time of 23:04.0. The speedster jumped out running the first 2k at 5:40.2, nearly 15-seconds faster than nearest competitor. Casarez continued to speed away from the field holding a near 41-second lead at the 5.7k split, before finishing 43-seconds ahead of runner-up Caleb Bouchard of North Texas.
"I knew Eric [Casarez] was fit coming in," distance coach Wendel McRaven said. "He's had some great training and some great workouts. He had a rough season last year and is bouncing back. He's running with a little chip on his shoulder. Obviously, we had very nice conditions but to break the course record held by a guy that won the SEC Championship and was an All-American is a really good sign."
Casarez bettered the course record, previously held by Alabama's Antibahs Kosgei, by 20-seconds. The victory marked Casarez's second consecutive title on the young season.
Gavin Hoffpauir, Brady Grant and Joseph Benn each recorded top 10 finishes. Hoffpauir placed eighth at 24:03.7, Grant ninth at 24:04.6 and Benn 10th at 24:09.6. Tim McElaney rounded out the top five finishers for the Maroon & White at 16th with a time of 24:25.8. Texas A&M placed second in the team standings with 44 points, one point behind North Texas.
Powered by three Aggies finishing in the top five of the women's race, the Maroon & White secured the team title with 23 points defeating Rice by 26 points. Black led the group finishing third overall at 17:31.1, followed by Maddie Livingston in fourth at 17:49.7 and Grace Plain in fifth at 17:50.8.
Gemma Goddard placed seventh with a time of 18:00.5 and Emma Ellis 10th at 18:07.9.
Next Up
Texas A&M travels to Columbia, Mo. to compete against fellow Southeastern Conference opponents at the Gans Creek Classic on Friday, Sept. 1.
Texas A&M Quotes
Distance Coach Wendel McRaven
on the men's team…
"We talked before the race on the men's side about getting out more aggressively because we will need to do that as the year goes on. They did that, but we paid a little bit for it at the end. North Texas has a good team. They came in here and beat us by a point, it was tight."
on Julia Black and the women's team…
"The women ran a great team race. Julia [Black] ran great...for her to run that well is really a testament to where she is at. Grace Plain ran really well, it was a really good team effort on the women's side. They did a really nice job. That's a good positive step forward and next week we'll see some better competition."
Senior Eric Casarez
on the course record…
"I wasn't too focused on the time. I just wanted to go in there and take care of business. Right around with 2k left, I found out that I had a really good chance at getting the record so that's when I started picking it up. On the last straight away, I really turned it into another gear and finished strong."
on being stronger and Coach Kubicek…
"I've been adapting to the new weight room schedule. We have a new strength coach. Coach Kubicek has been great getting us strong and mentally ready for these races. You know how long cross country races can get, so you have to be tough in those late situations. I have a back story with him, I transferred from Oklahoma and he was my strength coach there. My first year at OU I was injured and he got me healthy. I appreciate him a lot...I love having Coach Kubicek around."
on the environment at home meets…
"I've been telling Coach McRaven and the team all week that you just can't beat an Aggie crowd. We have the best fans in the world. This course is awesome. We get to train here and we get the benefit that most athletes don't, we get to come out here every single day. Adding fans out here is just icing on the cake."
Senior Julia Black
on the move that impacted the race…
"I made a move at one point in the back area. I saw a competitor that I knew I could run with, I knew it would be best for our team if I took a couple quick steps to get next to her then that would pull everybody else along. I got next to her and I was feeling good. Then a couple steps after I caught her I moved past her. It wasn't necessarily the plan to get in front of that group at that time, but I knew it would be best for our team."
on the 12thMan…
"The fans were great today. When we have the high school meet, there are just so many more people here. It plays a huge part in the environment. I know were aren't the football team and we don't have 100,000 fans watching us, but today was noticeably different. That's an 800m long finishing stretch and there were people lining the whole way. I heard fans screaming, 'Let's go Keller', because that's where I went to high school. It was just cool coming down the stretch and hearing the support."
To learn more about Texas A&M Track & Field/Cross Country, log on to 12thMan.com and follow @aggietfxc.
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Casarez Sets Course Record, Women Claim Team Title - Texas A&M Athletics
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