Cross Country travels to Texas A&M

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BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University cross country teams hope the third time is a charm as the squads make their much-delayed 2017 debut when they compete at the Texas A&M Invitational in College Station on Saturday.

The LU teams were supposed to open their season at Texas A&M’s Aggie Invitational on Sept. 1, but were unable to make the trip due to Hurricane Harvey. A massive traffic jam on Interstate-10 prevented the Cardinals from reaching the Rice Invitational on Sept. 9.

“Compared to what so many others had to go through, this has just been an inconvenience for us,” LU cross country coach Tony Houchin said. “We have been able to use this time to focus on our training, but I know the athletes are anxious to see the fruits of their labor.”

The 8,000-meter men’s race is scheduled to start at 8 a.m. The 6,000-meter women’s event commences at 8:45 a.m.

“We are familiar with the course,” Houchin said. “We’ve run it before, and it is where this year’s NCAA Regional Championships will be held.”

The Cardinals are taking eight men and seven women’s to Saturday’s event. The top five finishers for each team count in the scoring.  There will be 18 teams in each event. Along with the Cardinals, Central Arkansas, Houston, LSU, Louisiana, McNeese, North Texas, Prairie View A&M, Rice, Sam Houston State, Southeastern Louisiana, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Texas State, TCU, UT Arlington and the host Aggies will field teams in both races. Southeastern Oklahoma will field a women’s team, while Texas Wesleyan will only compete on the men’s side.

“There are some very good teams in the field,” Houchin said. “There are also a number of Southland Conference teams, so we will be able to see how we stack up against the rest of the conference along with some of the best teams in our region.”

The LU women’s team is led by returning Southland Conference champion Evelyn Chavez, who was also named the Southland Conference Female Athlete of the Year for cross country last season. Chavez capped her junior year by earning All-South Central Region honors after finishing 21^st at the NCAA regionals.

The men’s team is powered by the return of senior Freddie Gasbarri and sophomore Keith Fallon. Gasbarri, the Southland Conference Men’s Student-Athlete of the Year in cross country, finished second at the Southland Conference Championship last season before earning all-region honors by placing 26^th at the NCAA Regionals.

Fallon had a solid freshman season in 2016 to help the Cardinals win their fourth straight Southland Conference crown and 10^th in the last 11 years.

Following Saturday’s event, the Cardinals are idle until Oct. 14, when they compete at the Bronco Invitational in Santa Clara, California.

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