Whether they are practicing on campus or out for a run around town, community members can always expect to see these runners out-and-about tracking miles to better their performances.
Led by Coach Pat Henry and Assistant Coaches Wendel McRaven and Julia Abell, the Texas A&M University men’s and women’s cross country teams are once again on the road to nationals during the 2023 season. Having many team members graduate last year, both teams are fresh with newbies ready to make their mark on the sport.
We took a look at both teams to provide an update on what’s to come this season and even some major players to look for.
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
After a 252nd finish by then-sophomore Johnathan Chung at the 2022 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, the men’s cross country team is returning this season with eight continued runners and bringing on seven new freshman to include Ondrej Gajdos, Carter Gordy, Nick Grams, Hunter Jackson, Jack Johnson, Zack Munger and Noah Willows.
As the team welcomes many newbies, senior Eric Casarez says he hopes to be able to serve as a person who can help these freshmen find their place on the team as well as at the university. Being a transfer student himself in 2019, Eric says finding a place on the team played a big role in his adjustment.
“Everybody was just so welcoming — it’s like a big family here,” Eric says. “No matter where you're at, whether you're at a restaurant, a football game or just walking randomly on campus, there's someone that's gonna say howdy to you or someone that's going to try to get you involved in different organizations around campus.”
In his senior season, Eric says he hopes to become an All-American cross country athlete, but he also is interested in potentially breaking another school record, of which, he already has three during his time here at Texas A&M. Beyond recognition, he hopes to stay healthy and well after having suffered injuries in previous seasons.
“I plan to enjoy every second and not take anything for granted,” Eric says. “This year is gonna decide a lot for my future because I really don't know what next year will be like. I would love to have a chance to represent Texas A&M at the Olympic trials next summer — that's an all-time goal for me to have the possibility to represent Team USA and the Olympics."
As the team begins their season on September 1 at the John McKenzie Invitational hosted by Texas Christian College, Eric says there are a number of athletes to watch for including Chandon Chhikara, Cooper Cawthra, Siddharth Jayaraman and Joseph Benn.
“We have a lot of older guys at the top which I think is really, really good,” Eric says. “We have the younger guys that are coming in who can completely change the game for our team.”
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Coming off of the 2022 season with a fourth place finish at South Central Regional, the Aggie women’s cross country team returns with 14 runners and brings in two transfers to include Madison Brown and Elise Smoot and seven freshman: Addison Applebaum, Madison Brown, Jamie Confer, Shewayne Johnson, Maddie Jones, Kristen McHaugh, Avery Perkins and Megan Roberts.
Beginning the season, junior Maddie Livingston said the returners are ready to bring in the newbies and teach them the ropes they gear up for the road to the NCAA Championships.
As the girls return to practice, Maddie says the team will need to focus on finding their groove with being such a young team. With so many strong returners, she hopes to continue to build on that base that they created last year.
“Being a very, very young team always creates a challenge but we have to be aware that there's a lot of emotions and things that we have to regulate,” Maddie says. “We don't like to get people too excited too early and burnout so we need to really be able to lean on each other and focus on creating a supportive community and team family aspect, which is always important to us.”
Personally this season, Maddie says she hopes to focus on her time and push herself to do her best, hopefully earning herself a trip to nationals. Last cross country season, Maddie finished 33rd at the South Central Regional competition.
“I came off a really strong track season last summer and training is going really well,” Maddie says. “I just hope to get up there in front and be competitive and just don't count myself out and then when the time comes for regionals comes up, we can work to get ourselves on the national start line — that's the big goal.”
As the team travels to Fort Worth to begin the fall season, Maddie says there are a number of athletes to watch as they blossom this season including Madison Brown, Kennedy Fontenot, Emma Little, Brooke Forbes and Amanda Hogan.
“With a large graduating group last season, it will be interesting to see what girls are our top five runners,” Maddie says. “We have a lot of sophomores moving up and I am excited to see what they are going to bring to the table and who rises as a leader.”
