BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Texas A&M‘s distance runners Eric Casarez and Maddie Livingston earned Southeastern Conference weekly honours. The league announced on Tuesday afternoon (28 Sept).
The Aggies nearly swept the SEC weekly accolades as Casarez was named the men’s runner of the week and Livingston, the women’s freshman runner of the week. The recognition marks career first for both student-athletes.
Eric Casarez won the Texas A&M Invitational 8k, setting a Dale Watts Cross Country Course record with a time of 23:04.0. His time was the fastest in the SEC last weekend, and the victory was his second of the season.
The speedster jumped out, running the first 2k at 5:40.2, nearly 15 seconds faster than the nearest competitor. Casarez continued to speed away from the field, holding a near 41-second lead at the 5.7k split, before finishing 43 seconds ahead of the runner-up. Casarez bettered the course record previously held by Alabama’s Antibahs Kosgei by 20 seconds.
Livingston finished as the top freshman and fourth overall at the Texas A&M Invitational 5k with a time of 17:49.7. It was her second career top-5 finish. Her performance helped lead the Aggies to the team title, defeating Rice by 26 points. Livingston was the second Aggie to cross the finish line behind senior Julia Black. The freshman ran an average mile time of 5:44.3.
The honours mark the second and third of the season for the Aggies. Gemma Goddard received the accolade following her season-opening victory at the Aggie Opener. Since joining the SEC, it is the first time that Texas A&M has had two different freshmen earn the honour in the same season.
