STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Tarleton State Cross Country will have the majority of its team compete for the first time this season at the Gerald Richey Invitational on Friday morning at the Harold Patterson Sports Complex hosted by UT Arlington.
The Gerald Richey Invitational will provide as a preview for the Texans for the 2025 WAC Cross Country Championships. The Harold Sports Complex will be the site of the championships and running in the Gerald Richey Invitational will give the Purple and White a chance to familiarize themselves with the course. The women ill race first with the starting gun going off at 7:30 a.m. The men's race will follow shortly after the conclusion of the women's competition. Both the men and the women will be running a 5K unlike the conference meet where the men will be running an 8K and the women a 6K race.
For highlights, photos and updates follow @tarletonxctrack on both Instagram and X. There will not be a live stream, but live results will be provided by athletic.net.
The 14-athlete squad will feature 10 making their season debut this weekend. After the four freshmen made their collegiate debuts at the TCU Invitational last weekend, the remaining 10 will run for the first time this Friday. Among the 10 running for the first time this season, two on the women's side will be making their Texan debut.
Carley Thornton and
Madelyn Hunter, each Houston transfers, will be running for the first time donning the Purple and White.
Returners from the women's side include
Kaitlyn Gale who was the top female finisher for the Texans at both the WAC Championships and the South Central Regionals. Gale will be look to improve on her collegiate best time in the 5K of 18:16.9, which she clocked in at last year's Chile Pepper Festival.
Jace Poole was the first Texan to cross on the men's side at the NCAA Regionals last fall finishing in 38
th overall. He will look to help lead the men throughout the season and into the conference championships where he was the third Texan to finish.
Last week, the four Texan freshmen made their collegiate debuts. On the men's side, they each turned in top 15 finishes highlighted by
Tyler Hedgepeth. Hedgepeth finished sixth overall ahead of runners from both Texas A&M and TCU. He clocked in at 15:42.19 and posted the best overall finish by a Texan at that meet in program history surpassing current teammate
Kellen Frickel's best finish of ninth in 2022. On the women's side
Victoria Guerrero used an impressive close to claim 13
th overall.
The last time the Texans ran at a UTA meet was in 2022. The course was not the same, marking this race, the Texans first at the Harold Patterson Sports Complex. Tarleton State placed fourth on the men's side and sixth in the women's race. The only current Texan to run in that meet was
AJ Alfaro. Alfaro was the third Texan to cross and finished in 32
nd overall. The best finish by a Texan was 18
th in 16:14.7.
The Texans will have a lengthy break before hitting the course again. Tarleton State will be back in action on October 4
th at the Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Ark. hosted by the Arkansas Razorbacks. The Texans will be competing at the Agri Park Cross Country Course, which will be the site of the 2025 South Central NCAA Regional Meet as well.
