SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's and women's cross country teams are heading out of state to compete in Notre Dame's Joe Piane Invite Friday on the Burke Golf Course.
The Islanders are competing in the Gold Division, with the women racing a 5k at 12:30 p.m. CT and the men an 8k at 1:15 p.m. CT. It will be the longest race for both the men and women so far this season.
The women will be part of a 23-team field while the men will be one of 19 teams racing.
"Both teams are excited to get back on the grass tomorrow to race in South Bend, Indiana," said head coach
Bryan Jackson. "This will be our first big test of the season, and a great opportunity to match up against teams we don't see very often."
A&M-Corpus Christi last hit the course three weeks ago at the Rice Invitational that saw top-three finishes on both sides. The women finished second out of 10 teams, paced by the individual placing of freshman
Alicia Finnis who got third overall in the women's 4k.
It was the second meet in a row Finnis was the team's top finisher and she was named the SLC Runner of the Week following her performance at Rice.
Fellow freshman
Embla Hreimsdottir top-10 individually in ninth place at Rice, her first career race.
The men finished third overall at Rice out of nine teams in a 5200m race. The men also saw a young group lead the pack for the Islanders, with freshman
Dominic Kiptum finishing second overall with a personal time of a 15:40.50 in his collegiate debut.
It came after the men earned a perfect score in the Opener at the Seashore, which the Islanders hosted to begin the 2024 season. Sophomore
Mathayo Kiptoo Bundotich, sophomore
Landon Blankenship, senior
Emil Hajjaj, freshman
Ewan Wheelwright, and freshman
Diego Canto all crossed consecutively.
Live scoring will be available to follow for the meet.
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