A&M hosts Wildcats' last XC race before Southlands

Saturday, October 19

College Station, Texas

9 a.m.

Abilene Christian

Arturo Barrios Invitational

Photo by: Scott Delony

A&M hosts Wildcats' last XC race before Southlands

10/16/2019 8:28:00 AM | Cross Country

ABILENE -- Abilene Christian's regionally ranked cross country teams will be entered in yet another crazy good meet Saturday when they venture to Texas A&M's Dale Watts Course for the Arturo Barrios Invitational.

The men's 8K will begin at 9 a.m. and women's 6K approximately 45 minutes later.

ACU is one of 32 schools in the field, which includes 18 regionally ranked men's programs and 17 women's teams. The highest ranked national team in attendance will be the No. 17 men of Middle Tennessee State.

The Wildcats enter this meet ranked 14th in the South Central region on the men's side, and 11th on the women's side. ACU earned its respective rankings following a solid showing two weeks ago at the Arkansas-hosted Chile Pepper Festival.

The ACU women placed 14th in Fayetteville with 436 points, topping notable regional and Southland Conference schools from Oklahoma (486), Texas State (501), Central Arkansas (509), UIW (551), North Texas (582) and Lamar (693).

Junior Briahna Gerlach nearly cracked the top-30 (out of 278 runners) with her 31st-place 5K time of 17:27.3. Senior Carnley Graham, who last ran this course in 2015 as a true freshman, also finished among the top half at 18:10.1 (82nd) as did freshman Grace White (93rd, 18:20.4).

Sophomore Kevin Kipkosgei led the ACU men to the finish line with a 47th-place mark of 24:55.9, while teammate Denis Lagat was two spots behind him with a 24:57.0. Their efforts helped the Wildcats place 22nd out of 32 teams with 578 points, which was good enough to defeat Southland Conference rivals Central Arkansas (597) and Incarnate Word (661).

Five Southland schools are slated to compete Saturday against the Wildcats: UIW, McNeese, Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Power Five Conference schools featured in the field include the host Aggies, Arizona State, Baylor, Florida, LSU, Tennessee (men), Texas (women) and Texas Tech.

All the aforementioned Wildcats are entered into the Barrios Invitational. Kipkosgei and Lagat will be joined in the 8K by teammates Daniel Campos, Levi Chambers, Seth Crockett, Colton Gates, Trevon Hardy, Lane Jackson, Jacob Martinez, Conner Miller and Gabriel Trevino.

ACU's 6K roster is composed of Gerlach, Graham and Grace White plus Hannah Marut, Loren Rivera, Irene Rono, Avery Silliman, Sarah Wagler, Lindsey White and Aubrey Young.