COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi cross country program heads to its final meet of the 2026 regular season this week, making the trip back up to College Station on Friday to compete at the Arturo Barrios Invitational, hosted by Texas A&M.
The meet will begin bright and early, with the men starting things off in the 8K at 8:15 a.m. and the women following in the 6K at 8:50 a.m. The Islanders – who enter competition ranked No. 7 in the NCAA South Central Region on the women's side and No. 9 on the men's side – will be taking on a field stacked with stiff competition, which includes all but one of the top 15 ranked teams on the former list and all but four on the latter.
A&M-Corpus Christi will be visiting the Watts Cross Country Course for the second time this year, having previously raced at the Aggie Opener back on September 4 to kick things off. At that meet, freshman
Caroline Yegon started off her collegiate career with an individual victory, emerging at the top of a 47-person field and later being named the Southland Conference Women's Performer of the Week. The team would then earn the same award in its next time out at the Gans Creek Classic in Columbia, Missouri, on September 25, with the honor going to
Elizabeth Khatevi after she placed second out of 251 in the 6K Gold race in what was her first taste of action of her junior campaign. As a group, the men placed third in College Station and 23
rd in Columbia, while the women finished fourth and 17
th respectively.
As for this week, the Islanders return to the Arturo Barrios Invitational after having performed very well at the meet a year ago, with the men coming in eighth out of 32 schools and ranking ahead of four conference rivals, while the women placed 11
th out of 38 and beat six different Southland foes. On the individual side, Khatevi will be looking to defend her individual crown, as she finished at the top of the more than 300-athlete field in 2025 while clocking a time of 18:56.1, her best 6K mark as a member of the program. For the men,
Diego Canto had the best finish among Islanders returners, with the now junior coming in 38
th out of 343 with a time of 23:58.9 in the 8K.
"Training the last few weeks has gone very well," Islanders head coach
Bryan Jackson said. "Both teams are in a great spot entering the final race before the championship portion of the season. As excited as I am for what we are ready to do this weekend, I am more excited about how we have positioned ourselves for the part of the season that really matters, the championships."
The live results for the Arturo Barrios Invitational will be available to follow along as they happen.
Meet 3 // A&M-Corpus Christi at Arturo Barrios Invitational
Date: Friday, October 16
Time: 8:15 a.m. CT (men) // 8:50 a.m. CT (women)
Location: Watts Cross Country Course // College Station, Texas
Live Results
Socials:
@IslandersTFXC (IG) //
@IslandersTFXC (X)
#ShakasUp
