Congrats Coach, best of luck out west

I guess it was a trade

There are transfer rules in place that prevent those athletes from being eligible this year. You have to go into the portal during the proper window in order to be eligible the next season. There was no portal window open for track/cross country anywhere near the time that Coach Ereng was hired. Now could they go into the portal following cross country season...?

Aggies pick up Timara Chapman from NC State a national qualifier in the Heptathlon! She placed 16th at nationals and has a great PR that gives me reason to believe under Sategna that she could score at nationals next year! Along with Joniar Thomas and Rylee Lydon we will have a strong multi group as well as our guy multis!

https://www.tfrrs.org/athletes/6985783/North_Carolina_St/Timara_Chapman.html

triniaggie said:

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I think we might have added as well Long and triple jumper John Baker transfer from Arkansas

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ITS OFFICIAL! Big time transfer!

Texas A&M Cross Country Season Preview (1st Meet)


Meet: John McKenzie Invitational
Where: TCU
Distance: 5k
Time: Men - 7:45, Women - 8:15
School's Attending: TCU, Abilene Christian, North Texas, UT Arlington, and Tarleton
Course Address: 1590 Ranch to Market Rd 2871, Fort Worth, TX 76126


Aggie fans take your marks, get set, boom and just like that cross country season is back! [pretending it's not 110 degrees outside] The leaves are falling, the air is crisp, you can hear the birds singing, and in the faint distance you can see a slew of runners coming down the home stretch at Dale Watts… one runner has tattoos on the upper left of his arm, one with a white headband and glasses, and one standing taller than the others with a matching white headband that makes you wonder if the pair got a 2 for the price of one deal… and as they come closer Aggies rejoice to see Eric Casarez, Jonathan Chung, and Chandon Chhikara racing down to the finish line as a sea of maroon erupts in cheer! Cross Country is back!


Last year our Aggies had a great season, the men placed 5th in conference and 3rd at regionals, while the women placed 8th in conference and 3rd at regionals. There's two main and differing storylines for each squad; on the men's side its do we have the depth to support the strong trio of national qualifiers Casarez and Chung, and Chhikara, and on the women's side its how can we replace the production from the departures of Grace Plain, Julia Abell (NOW TEXAS A&M ASSISTANT TRACK COACH JULIA ABELL), and Abbey Santoro and will this young team gel together.


To start things off on the men's side, it's clear we will be led by Eric Casarez as the dominant runner has led this team the last few years and looks to avenge missing out on nationals last year. Casarez has improved his times each year on the course and on the track. I expect him to have a monster this year and be one of the nation's best. We couldn't ask for a better leader than Casarez who in his last season looks to make a lot of noise. In lieu of Casarez missing on nationals, it was Johnathan Chung who came roaring down the homestretch at home to secure a spot for nationals. You won't find a more fearless and courageous runner than Chung. He's gonna go out hard and give it his all every time the gun goes off. He should have a strong year as well. Another returning star is Chandon Chhikara (yes with two h's). He made his presence known in his first year in Aggieland and was a strong contributor to this team. It's hard to miss his huge stride out on the course. He was our number 3 in conference and 4 at regionals and he will be an integral part to this team's success. If he can consistently keep himself in out top 2 or 3 and get into the top 15 at regionals our men should be strong.


However the biggest question remains behind these 3! Who will step up for the Ags and potentially stay close to our strong trio. We have the depth. Last season two College Station locals Siddharth Jayaraman and Joseph Benn rounded out the team of 7. The 2 juniors will need to step up as we replace the departures of Francesco Romano and Gavin Hoffpauir. Jayaraman and Benn have improved drastically each season and for this team to have success it's imperative that they do so once again. At regionals last season they were 41st and 70th and in order to take down Texas or Arkansas we are going to need everyone in the top 25 at the very least. We also have Cooper Cawthra who's one of our best milers, but the question remains if he can adjust to the longer distances and I bet he does a better job this year! We also have a group of talented freshmen coming in; however, it's hard to make the jump from the 5k to the 8 and 10k! Jack Johnston and Carter Gordy could be names to keep an eye on! The wildcard of the group is Ondrej Gajdos, a freshman coming from the Czech Republic! His track times make him one of the fastest of the group, but he's more of a 1500/3000 specialist so not sure how he will do over a longer distance but I hope he adjusts well and can break into our top 5! We rarely get distance athletes from the international ranks so I'm excited!


The men can have a great squad, but we still have to get over the hump that is Arkansas and tu! Arkansas may take a step back but tu should be strong although they won't have depth as some transferred out! We lost Romano and Hoffpauir and depth pieces in Teddy Radtke and Victor Zuniga, but the ones who return will be strong! Casarez and Chung can qualify to nationals individually and I predict both will do so. If Chhikara makes the jump he can put himself in that discussion easily, I expect him to be our most improved runner! We will need a 4 and a 5 to step up whomever it may be, but the success of the team will lay on them!



On the women's side it's a little bit of everything! We have depth returning, we brought in a big transfer, we have solid freshmen, we have a top runner hopefully returning back from injury, but the question remains if we can fill the shoes of the departures of Plain, Abell, Santoro, and Dierdre Nelson. Leading the team should be our transfer Madison Brown formerly of Dallas Baptist. Her times are crazy impressive and I expect her to be in national qualifying contention! I believe she can beat most of the texas girls and we need her to run with the Arkansas top girls! We have some young but solid returners behind her! Leading that group is junior Maddie Livingston who made some big strides on the track and can be a strong number 2 for us if needed! She's reliably been a contributor for us but expect her to take a big step this year!


Behind her we have a group of veterans with mixed levels of classes. We have some experienced veterans in Mary Grace Rodriguez and Katelyn Buckley and some great sophomores led by Kennady Fontenot, Emma Little, and Brooke Forbes. Rodriguez finished the year off strong and I think her, Fontenot, Buckley, and Little can be key contributors to the group this year. There is also a big question mark around the health of Gemma Goddard! She had a strong year her first year but injured herself on the track and was out last year! She was one of our top runners in 2021 and if she is healthy and back to full strength she can absolutely be in our top 5! I'm curious to see the growth of Amanda Hogan and Carson Parker who red shirted last year, they were some elite signees! We also brought in a stellar recruiting class led by Shewaye Johnson and it would surprise me if she isn't contributing to this team! She was one of the top cross runners in Texas last year! Freshman Avery Perkins, Megan Roberts, and Maddie Jones are great runners as well.


The women have depth and a solid core! Losing the girls we lost will be hard to replace one by one, but with a committee approach I think we can have a solid year! In the region, this might be a weak Texas team! They lose Valery Tobias and the Hebner sisters, that;s their 2-4 runners! They did add one of the nation's best in Olivia Howell however. Arkansas is strong as always. We'll need Brown and Livingston to compete with Beth Ramos of Texas and have our other girls beat their 3-5! It's hard to predict a 3-5 on this team but that will be the difference between nationals or not. Fontenot, Rodriguez, Goddard, Johnson, Buckley, and Little give us exciting options and I expect another runner to surprise us and break into the group! I'm excited to see the girls' season play out!


It's weird not opening up at home, but a 5k in Fort Worth should be fun! It will also be a high school meet so great for recruits to watch us run and for Mcraven and Abell to scout some runners! The 5k will be quick but let's hope for PR's, some cohesion, and strong finishes! Surprisingly McRaven didn't talk to the media Tuesday and he gives great pressers so let's hope the team posts a preview article sometime tomorrow! I'll update this when the entries and teams are posted! Hope you enjoyed reading, well if you made it this far lol gig'em whoop!

Taylorswift13's 2023 Cross Country Pre Season Awards

Men
MVP: Eric Casarez
Most Improved: Chandon Chhikara
Aggie Heart Award: Johnathan Chung
Newcomer of the Year: Jack Johnston

Women
MVP: Madison Brown
Most Improved: Kennady Fontenot
Aggie Heart Award: Maddie Livingston
Newcomer of the Year: Shewaye Johnson

Very nice summary @Taylor

Teams competing will be TCU, Abilene Christian, North Texas, UT Arlington, and Tarleton! Should see lots of Maroon crossing the line first!