FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Texas A&M placed seventh in the men’s race and 11th in the women’s race during the SEC Championships held Friday morning at Agri Park at the University of Arkansas. The host Razorbacks swept the team titles for the fourth consecutive year.
Karis Jochen led the women’s team, placing 16th among the field of 137 in a time of 21:04.2, while Christian Farris finished 18th with a clocking of 24:51.6 to pace the men’s squad amid a field of 106. Aggie freshman Jon Bishop earned a spot on the SEC All-Freshman team, placing 41st in a time of 25:30.7.
Arkansas men totaled 25 points as their first five runners placed among the top 10 with Razorback Alex George winning the 8,000-meter race in 23:24.9. Mississippi placed second with 38 points as Kentucky scored 100 points to place third. The Aggie men produced a score of 191 points in finishing seventh over Florida (207) and Tennessee (275).
Arkansas women bettered the field with 46 points to finish ahead of Mississippi (76) and Missouri (125). Karissa Schweizer of Missouri claimed the individual title, covering the 6,000-meter course in 20:10.5. Texas A&M women scored 263 points in placing 11th, finishing ahead of LSU (366), South Carolina (385) and Tennessee (393).
Cameron Villarreal finished second among the Texas A&M men as he placed 38th in 25:24.7. After Bishop, the rest of the Aggie crew comprising the team score included Austin Wells (51st, 25:49.1) and Elliott Farris (63rd, 26:05.9). Also racing for the men in the SEC meet were Ryan Teel (71st, 26:23.3), Jacob Perry (74th, 26:24.9), Juan Uribe (79th, 26:41.0), and Colin Stoeber (100th, 27:53.3).
“Christian actually ran well in leading the men, but normally he is our third or fourth guy,” said Texas A&M assistant coach Wendel McRaven. “He was 18th and if we had two or three finishers ahead of him today, then we’re walking away from here fairly content. The positive is he ran well. Jon Bishop, as a freshman, also had a good race.
“The guys went out aggressively, but I don’t know if they went out too aggressively. We need to get better for the region meet when we come back in a couple of weeks.”
Kelsie Warren placed 45th with a time of 21:51.4, finishing second among the Aggie women’s team. Devin Norton ran 22:14.9 to place 67th as Haley Deakins (84th) and Katie Watson (85th) rounded out the team score with times of 22:34.3 and 22:36.4.
“We made some positive steps on the women’s side, but we didn’t accomplish what we wanted,” noted McRaven. “Karis had a little bit of a rough day, but we know she is physically fine. It was just one of those days. It was a positive step for Kelsie, but we needed a few more of those from others. We have some work to do over the next couple of weeks to get better.”
The rest of the Texas A&M women’s team included Ashley Driscoll (88th, 22:42.4), Laura Craig (92nd, 22:48.8), Lauryn Barrientos (107th, 23:10.2), Kelsey Persyn (114th, 23:26.4), Ashley Hutcherson (110th, 23:14.7), and Arin Rice (125th, 23:52.4).
In two weeks the Aggies will return to Agri Park for the NCAA South Central region meet. The women will race over 6,000m while the men up to a 10,000m distance.
SEC CHAMPIONSHIPS
Team Scores
Men: 1. Arkansas, 25; 2. Mississippi, 38; 3. Kentucky, 100; 4. Georgia, 149; 5. Alabama, 152; 6. Missouri, 156; 7. Texas A&M, 191; 8. Florida, 207; 9. Tennessee, 275; 10. Auburn, 278; 11. LSU, 296; 12. Vanderbilt, 319.
Women: 1. Arkansas, 46; 2. Mississippi, 76; 3. Missouri, 125; 4. Mississippi State, 138; 5. Alabama, 170; 6. Vanderbilt, 170; 7. Kentucky, 180; 8. Florida, 185; 9. Auburn, 207; 10. Georgia, 225; 11. Texas A&M, 263; 12. LSU, 366; 13. South Carolina, 385; 14. Tennessee, 393.
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics