HOUSTON, Texas - The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Cross Country program kicks off its season Friday, Sept. 7 at the Norry Hersey Rice Invitational in Houston, Texas, battling 10 opposing schools across both the men's and women's fields. The women's race kicks off at 6:15 p.m. while the men get started half an hour later around 6:45 p.m.
Under the direction of second-year coach
Brent Ericksen, the 16-athlete squad (eight men, eight women) features six newcomers and a slew of veterans vying to top last year's results. The women finished fourth in the Southland Conference while the men clinched eighth place. As for the Rice Invitational, though, Ericksen denoted how important the first few meets are in terms of just getting used to the distance and establishing a foundation for the season.
"We're really focused just on us these first two meets, not our opponents," Ericksen said. "We're going to race a lot off base and lay a better foundation. We just need to get the team used to the distance, that's our primary focus."
Headlined by a number of experienced veterans and sporting a 13th ranking in the South Central Pre-Season poll, the women's squad has set high expectations for their upcoming year. According to Ericksen, the one-two punch of seniors
Allyson Girard and
Cynthia Quiroga has the potential to propel the Islanders to new heights, especially if sophomore
Valentina Campos can replicate her strong performance from last season.
"On the women's side, the standout is
Allyson Girard," Ericksen added. "She's returning All-Conference and picked up a Conference Champion in the mile both indoors and outdoors. She also qualified for the NCAA in track, so we're looking to carry that over into Cross Country. She's in much better shape this season, and we feel like she's got a shot to go to Nationals and place very high. She's a special athlete."
Meanwhile, senior
Samantha Miller has taken over as the team's captain, a role Ericksen indicated to be exceptionally crucial down the stretch of a full season. Considering the number of newcomers, student leadership acts as a conduit for extra coach instruction, ranging from course tips to reinforcement of training principles.
"On the girl's side, our captain is Samantha, and she does an incredible job," Ericksen continued. "The leadership primarily focuses on reinforcement of the training we implement as coaches, so communicating with the team and connecting with the freshman falls to them in many cases. It's all about supporting each other and making sure this team is not about running fast, but having a great team composed of great teammates. Then you start running for each other, and when that happens is you dig down deep in that last stretch because you don't want to let your teammates down."
Oppositely, the men's squad has set up a more group approach in terms of leadership, primarily due to the high number of new athletes (three freshman, one transfer). As for competition, Ericksen looks forward to how the men will contest behind strong returners such as senior
Marek Spriestersbach and sophomore
Isaac Vargas.
"On the guys' side, Issac and Marek tended to trade off," Ericksen concluded. "We feel that our men's team is going to be significantly improved. That's the squad we feel that our freshmen are going to make an impact and give us some depth we didn't have enough of in recent years. We also brought in
Oscar Leyva from Colby Junior College. He was a Junior College All-American so we expect him to have a great year as well."
Racing Field
Houston (M/W)
Houston Baptist (M/W)
Prairie View A&M (M/W)
Rice (M/W)
Sam Houston State (M/W)
St. Edwards (M/W)
Stephen F. Austin (M/W)
Texas (M/W)
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (M/W)
Texas Southern (M/W)
UT-Rio Grande Valley (M/W)
