Cross Country Departs for Big Test at Texas A&M

Saturday, October 19

College Station, Texas

9:00 A.M.

Texas Tech Athletics

Arturo Barrios Invitational

Cross Country Departs for Big Test at Texas A&M

October 17, 2019 | Cross Country

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Red Raiders set for Arturo Barrios Invitational in College Station.

By: Jeremy O'Brien

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech cross country is ready for its fourth and final meet of the regular season Saturday. The race will serve as the last primer for November's Big 12 Championships and the rest of the postseason.

Visiting teams include: Arizona State, Baylor, Florida, LSU, Pittsburgh, TCU, Tennessee and Texas.

"This weekend will be very telling, because there will be several SEC and regional teams there," said head coach Jon Murray. "How we stack up here will be a good indication of how we'll stack up in conference."

The Red Raiders are coming off an appearance at the Mizzou Challenge that had its challenges, namely humidity and high temperatures. College Station looks to present the same obstacles.

"Missouri took a while for our kids to recover from," Murray said. "We can't prepare for that humidity here, because we simply don't have it. Texas A&M will be the same way. We'll work hard to run smart."

Tech's men's team has improved week by week this fall. This was especially evident by the performance from Cornelius Kiprotich, whose breakout race saw him finish fifth with a 25:11.7 in the 8k. He was just eight seconds off of a collegiate PR. Nathan Gift also ran well, turning in a 26:21.8 to secure the team's fifth-place finish.

Adding on to the strong group of newcomers that finished behind Kiprotich and Gift will be Takieddine Hedeilli, who will make his highly-anticipated Tech debut. Hedeilli comes to Tech as a graduate transfer from Algeria, who has run competitively all across Europe.

"Taki has been running so well in practice," Murray said. "He's seasoned and has raced all around the world, and in meets much bigger than this. He brings a lot of experience to our team. He has a shot at the individual title at A&M."

The women's team has continued to impress, led each week by Seselia Dala. Dala placed top-10 at Mizzou and has this season traded off top Tech finishes with Nokuthula Dlamini. The duo look to continue to provide the spark and leadership that has lifted the young Lady Raider group this fall. That youth movement has so far been evidenced by Claudrice McKoy, Jazmyn Martines and Binta Ka.

"The women have continued to improve," Murray said. "They had their best race of the year at home, and with some adjustments I look for them to continue to grow. We're trying to work Claudrice up with Seselia, and Nikki will look to have a good bounce back race, too."

The women will run a 6k in College Station, which is set to begin at 9:45 a.m. They will be preceded by the men's squad, which will run an 8k at 9 a.m. Live results will be available here.