COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Commodores will look to enter the upcoming Southeastern Conference Cross Country Championships off a strong performance when they compete in the Arturo Barrios Invitational Saturday from the Texas A&M campus.
The Commodores will join 26 other teams at the Barrios Invitational, including SEC members Florida, LSU, Mississippi State and the host Aggies. The meet will be staged on A&M’s 6-kilometer Dale Watts course.
Redshirt junior Sara Tsai will lead the Vanderbilt women, who enter the meet ranked fifth in the NCAA south region.
Head coach Steve Keith is looking for see continued improvement throughout his Commodore contingent.
“We’re coming into the Barrios off two good weeks of work, so I’m excited to see how the entire team competes Saturday,” Keith said. “It’s a great opportunity for our team to take another positive step as we approach the SECs. I’d like to see our pack running with confidence, moving up and challenging our top runners.”
Vanderbilt enters the Barrios Invitational off a 24th-place team finish at the ultra-tough Nuttycombe Invitational two weeks ago in Madison, Wisc. The Commodores were led by Tsai, the 2016 NCAA Championship competitor and All-SEC performer. Tsai, from Eugene, Ore., showed excellent form in Madison, running the 6-K distance in 20:50.50.
Tsai was followed at the Nuttycombe by senior Devon Grisbaum, sophomore Anna Grace Morgan, redshirt junior Caroline Pietrzk and freshman Haley Walker.
Other Commodores competing at Texas A&M are juniors Kendall Derry and Mailin Struck, sophomores Kacie Breeding and Gillian Mortimer, and freshman Emily Cohen, Grace Jensen and Alena Sapienza-Wright.
