FRIDAY-NIGHT THRILLER
Next chapter in storied rivalry between No. 9 A&M, No. 2 Texas will take place on Halloween night in Reed Arena
By Noah Ruiz Senior Sports Writer
Five straight Southeastern Conference wins have No. 9 Texas A&M volleyball ready for a high-stakes Lone Star Showdown with No. 2 Texas, where Reed Arena will be rocking in Halloween-themed fashion for a clash of historic rivals.
The Longhorns will come to College Station undefeated and eager to exact their revenge after the Aggies beat them last year in five sets at Gregory Gym. Their efforts to avenge the loss will not be taken lightly, as senior opposite hitter Logan Lednicky is a program veteran who has the Maroon and White set on a path of dominance and earned SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors for her efforts against Oklahoma and Arkansas two weekends ago.
The Aggies haven’t needed many extra sets to get the job done, making a slasher film of their last five victories — four of which were sweeps. However, this will be just one of three ranked SEC matchups for A&M, having already beaten then-No. 21 Missouri and fallen to No. 3 Kentucky.
Despite this, coach Jamie Morrison has prepared his squad for the challenge, and the Aggies have continued to improve throughout the season. Senior setter Maddie Waak has been a key piece of that improvement since transferring from LSU, earning SEC Setter of the Week honors for her successful stretch against Oklahoma and Arkansas.
A&M joined the Aggie football team in victory in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, last Friday, taming the Tigers in four sets. Lednicky led A&M with 14 kills, while Waak did some ghost-busting against her old team with a whopping 41 assists. Now defending Reed Arena, the Aggies will need to be on their A-game to take down the Longhorns.
Texas joined A&M in defeating LSU this past weekend with a 3-0 win last Sunday and has looked unstoppable throughout its 18game winning streak. Eleven of those wins have been sweeps, and junior outside hitter
Torrey Stafford rivals Freddy Krueger in kills with 277 this season.
Freshman OH Cari Spears is second to Stafford with 228 kills this year, making her the Jason Voorhees to Stafford’s Springwood Slasher season. The two pose the greatest threat to the Aggies’ defense, and will demand outstanding effort from the Maroon and White.
If there is anyone who can shore up the defense, look no further than senior libero/defensive specialist Ava Underwood. She wears the coveted No. 12 jersey and represents the Aggie Spirit, supporting her team from the back end of the court by starting in 69 of 70 sets this year.
Young talent will need to step up for A&M to seize the spooky night, and it’s lucky enough to have sophomore OH Kyndal Stowers ready to make an impact. The Denton product has filled a prominent role in the Aggie machine, collecting 154 digs over the course of the 2025 campaign.
The Aggies and Longhorns have split the series since the latter joined the conference a season ago, with the home team finding itself on the losing end in both competitions. However, with the Aggies at their best, per-
haps Friday’s matchup will change the cycle. After missing out on the national championship last season after claiming back-to-back titles, Texas will be hungry for a monster road win against A&M, which would be the Longhorns’ 10th straight ranked victory.
Therefore, all eyes will be on senior middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla, who has been a haunting complement to Lednicky’s all-conference efforts, earning All-SEC honors in her 2024 campaign. She has been an instrumental part in rallying the Aggies through their 9-1 conference stretch, ranking top 5 in scoring.
Shoring up the veteran talent for the Maroon and White is senior OH Emily Hellmuth, a Pepperdine transfer who has done nothing but provide an offensive jolt since joining the Aggies last season. After appearing in all 29 matches during her debut year with the Maroon and White, Hellmuth has picked up right where she left off with 217 points in 2025.
There will be no fright in the Aggies’ game plan against the Longhorns, as rivalry games are the thrillers that continue to rock the SEC. Prepare yourself, Aggieland; it’s time to get your Halloween on as Reed Arena transforms into a cattle graveyard.
Night with hidden haunts of Bryan
Stroll with Bryan Ghost Walk to learn historical information, look at spirits said to linger
By Julia Helsel Life & Arts Writer
The street lights illuminate the recently fallen night as a comedian pitches crass jokes to an audience on the open stage of the Palace Theater — his routine only occasionally interrupted by the revving of car engines. Next door, in front of the Carnegie History Center, a small crowd of people gather in front of a table decorated in macabre items and strange devices, boasting the banner of “Bryan Ghost Tours.” As the clock slowly approaches 8:30 p.m., a woman in gothic attire steps out from behind the table — the tour is about to begin.
Despite the seemingly normal atmosphere of Downtown Bryan, many curious locals and tourists alike look to their haunted tour guides, Dhalia ‘13 and Amber Dorsey, who check them off the guest list and provide them with interactive ghost detection devices — electromagnetic field meters and dowsing rods. They announce to all attendees the nature of the tour — a simple, historical tour with ghost-hunting elements sprinkled in at each spot — something meant to inform, not frighten.
Since 2021, Bryan Ghost Tours has offered educational and historical walking tours every fall. Students and locals fill up their availability year after year, eager to learn more about Bryan’s history and perhaps witness a ghostly phenomenon. Dorsey said she started the tours because of her previous job experience conducting ghost tours in Houston, and also because of the presence of ghosts she sensed residing in Downtown Bryan.
“Before Bryan Ghost Walk, I was work-
ing with Houston Ghost Tours … and I absolutely fell in love with it,” Dorsey said.
“When me and my husband decided we needed to move to Bryan, I kept going downtown and thinking, ‘There’s something about downtown, I can just feel it.’ So I sat down and started doing the research and thought, ‘Yep, I’m gonna bring ghost tours to Bryan.’”
As Dhalia prepares to lead guests on the tour, she packs up a variety of ghost-hunting devices and gives a run down on their uses and the science behind them. The majority of tour guests receive an electromagnetic field, or EMF, meter — a device meant to detect spectral presences through electrical activity. Two guests at a time are allowed to wield dowsing rods, two L-shaped metal poles that have historically been used to find water sources, but are also used to allow spirits to communicate by swinging open or crossing for ‘yes or no’ questions. Lastly, there are two devices reserved for the tour guides to use: a light-up motion detector to pick up on any unseen movement and a spirit box — a device that allows snippets of sentences and words to be heard from ghosts.
At first, Dorsey was the only one conducting the tours, until she brought on Dhalia, a ghost enthusiast who joined the team after going on one of the tours herself. While Dhalia has admitted to not being very attuned to spirits herself, her curiosity about the nature of ghosts brings her back as a guide year after year.
“I’m glad I took this opportunity because this is something I find interesting, even though I’m not sensitive,” Dhalia said. “I’ve done this too many times where now I know, there is definitely [ghostly] stuff here.”
As the tour begins, Dhalia displays historical images of Bryan’s founding days as a small railroad town, showcasing important historical figures in its founding and detailing how an outbreak of yellow fever in Mil-
ligan contributed to the growth of Bryan in the 1800s. All of the background research for the information in the tour was done by Dorsey, but Dhalia has attempted to learn the art of making the information digestible and fun.
“I just try to make it as entertaining as possible since it is history and you can only do so much,” Dhalia said. “This stuff is interesting so I do what I can to make it entertaining.”
As the section of historical content for Downtown Bryan and Carnegie History Center finishes up, guests are encouraged to bring out their EMF meters, providing a level of interactivity.
As the group moves from the Carnegie History Center and crosses the street, Dhalia directs people to the front of a local music store, explaining the story of a ghost of a young girl named Wendy who is known to haunt this location. Dorsey does not treat this as a gruesome or creepy occurrence; instead, she uses this to set the tone for how ghosts are to be perceived during the tour — just like people, who have likes, dislikes, personalities and questions.
“They are just dead people, and they want to talk,” Dorsey said. “Wendy is one of my favorites. … She was often the most interactive with me, and she was my best friend on tour. She got to the point of doing everything I asked her to with the equipment, when I asked her questions, she would come through the spirit box and answer them, and she really likes it when you play tag, even if we can’t see it.”
After firing up their EMF meters and taking pictures at the music store, the group moves to stop in front of a chocolate shop, with Dhalia explaining that many years ago, Officer Hearn — a well-liked lawman of the 1800s — met his unfortunate death in front of its doors. Just like before, the group is encouraged to watch their EMF meters before two guests are brought forward to communicate with the spirit using their
dowsing rods.
The rest of the tour proceeds in a similar fashion, with the group gathering in front of different buildings, learning both some historical data and the ghost’s background before attempting to communicate with the spirits. Dorsey spent a lot of time locating, investigating and identifying the different spirits, which she said is a lot more complicated than simply asking for its name through a spirit box.
“When I first started doing research, I went around to a lot of the local shops and was just reaching out to owners and asked, ‘Hey do you have any activity?’” Dorsey said. “ … Then I would go back to my own research and start looking in different eras of time to see if anything matched with their stories.”
Naturally, there can be skepticism toward the existence of ghosts and the methods of contacting them, and, according to Dorsey, there can be large differences of opinion among believers. She encourages attendees and skeptics alike to try and change their frame of mind when approaching the subject.
“If you’re open to it, you’re open to it,” Dorsey said. “If you look hard enough, you’re going to find things. … We have equipment, we have stuff that will give us the answers, but unfortunately, scientifically, there’s no way to physically prove spirits … you can photograph it, you can record it, but there’s always going to be skeptics.”
As the tour came to a close, looping back to where it began, attendees turn in their equipment and talk amongst themselves about their thoughts on the experience. One guest, Lauren Hurless, voiced her closing opinions on the entire tour.
“I thought it was amazing,” Hurless said. “I liked the interactive parts, I liked the history and I liked finding out more about the town we live in … I would recommend it even if you’re not interested in the paranormal, it’s just a fun tour.”
Clockwise from top: Tour guide Dhalia ‘13 shows old photographs of Downtown Bryan to tourists during the Bryan Ghost Walk in Downtown Bryan on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025. Tourists wait for the ghost tour to start during the Bryan Ghost Walk in Downtown Bryan on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025. Tour guide Dhalia ‘13 shows old photographs of Downtown Bryan to tourists during the Bryan Ghost Walk in Downtown Bryan on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
Photos by Ashely Bautista — THE BATTALION
A&M Board of Regents approves plans for new biology building
Biology Teaching and Research Building aims to provide longawaited facilities for students
By Emily Anderson News Writer
Funds for a new $220 million Biology Teaching and Research Building, or BTRB, were approved by the Texas A&M Board of Regents on Aug. 28.
The BTRB is set to open in 2029 and will be located on Lubbock Street — directly across from the front entrance of Heldenfels Hall, where the Engineering Activities Buildings are located.
“Biology students right now don’t have a place to call home,” Deb Bell-Pedersen, Ph.D., said. “We’re spread out in many different places. The first floor of this building will really provide that vision that we have for … [biology students] where they can run into their faculty … and be able to connect with us.”
Bell-Pedersen is a distinguished professor of biology who has been instrumental in advocating and planning for the new building.
The first of four floors will have classrooms, faculty and advising offices, study areas and a cafe.
The style of classrooms will vary, with a large circular lecture hall and other specialized smaller lecture halls with interactive learning, such as seating setups that allow students to move around and collaborate with peers.
The second through fourth floors will host modern research labs with cutting-edge technology.
Some labs will have virtual reality simulations, a technology that no other depart-
ment at A&M has utilized, according to Bell-Pedersen.
Many labs will also have walls made of glass to allow viewers to observe research happening in the labs.
“They’ll be able to see actually what’s going on in the research laboratory,” Bell-Pedersen said. “Then we can also see … if there are people that are interested, maybe they’d like to come in and hear more about what we’re doing.”
The last time the biology department got a new building was when Heldenfels was built in 1977 — which now also holds math and engineering courses.
Alex Keene, Ph.D., professor and biology department head, credits Timothy Hall — head of A&M’s biology department from 1984-1992 — as the original visionary for building research within the department and advocating for new facilities.
“You just can’t give the same level of education to students if you don’t have active researchers,” Keene said. “He basically spent his time as the department head reenvisioning the department as a really active research department.”
Hall’s leadership pushed the department toward acquiring new facilities for teaching and research, according to Keene.
“I would say, at least four times, there has been a promise of a new building, and that has always fallen apart in the end,” Bell-Pedersen said.
The department was able to gain support for a new building through the presidential terms of Mike Young and John Junkins.
When former A&M President Katherine Banks took office in July 2021, she cut the funds for the building and reallocated them to a new building for the College of Veterinary Medicine.
However, when former A&M President Mark A. Welsh III took office in July 2023, he immediately made a new biology build-
A&M’s Winnie Carter Wildlife Center raises funds through tours
By Erin Wunderlich News Reporter
Lying in a shaded field of grass, Murdoch the blind kangaroo rests his head on animal science junior Mario Rivas’ chest — taking a light snooze after an energizing round of soccer beneath the midday sun last fall. It took the kangaroos a couple of months to warm up to their new caretaker, but now they’re inseparable. Reaching up to get the right angle, Rivas snaps a selfie to remember the heartfelt moment.
Texas A&M’s Winnie Carter Wildlife Center is an educational facility where undergraduate and veterinary students have the opportunity to work with 26 exotic animal species — from servals, camels and even rare Przewalski’s horses. Students learn to manage animals by administering medical care, developing husbandry skills, providing enrichment, training others and maintaining enclosures.
The center relies on donations to fund its growing number of residents and will be hosting educational tours on Saturday, Nov. 8 and 15 to fundraise. The tours will include an overview of the center and a walkthrough of each enclosure. Additional encounters can be purchased to interact with the center’s kangaroos and sloths. All proceeds will directly support the rescued animals.
“Our center is a very unique campus facility,” Director Alice Blue-McLendon, DMV said. “We give students the opportunity to work with wild Texas animals in a place that values high quality of care, enrichment activities and access to large habitats. It’s not just that they learn to care for these animals, but that they carry the message that pet ownership, of any kind, is a serious responsibility.”
Many of the animals at the wildlife center come from difficult backgrounds, according to Blue-McLendon. She said part of their mission is to provide a sanctuary and a permanent home for any exotic, non-domestic animal in need.
Michael Jr. and Fridley were the unplanned offspring of a pair of sloths kept as pets. The owners didn’t know how to care for or manage them, so the brothers were confined to a small room with nothing to simulate their natural habitat. Now at the wildlife center, the sloths have both indoor and outdoor enclosures spanning more than an acre — complete with a dedicated student caretaker and endless opportunities for enrichment.
“One of the things that we talk about in our educational tours is teaching people that exotic animals should not be in the pet trade,” Blue-McLendon said. “Even though you can buy them, it doesn’t mean that’s a good decision. We need to pass more laws to limit ownership.”
ing an infrastructure priority, Bell-Pedersen said.
“I think they didn’t take the time to investigate the current conditions of our buildings and the needs that we have to continue to grow,” Bell-Pedersen said.
The biology department serves over 20,000 students each year, including over 2,000 undergraduate biology students. According to Keene, the department has been facing significant infrastructure issues, including constant leaks coming through the ceiling in the basement of the Biological Sciences Building West, or BSBW, where the department keeps expensive pieces of equipment — including one microscope valued at $800,000.
The BSBW is not the only building with biology labs whose outdated facilities have disrupted research, according to students.
“Last fall, I was taking chordate anatomy and we were in the basement of Butler [Hall],” zoology senior Sally Bounds said. “We had to move labs to Heldenfels because the prep room with all the organisms got infested with mold, and it wasn’t safe for us to be in the lab.”
The team that helped develop plans for the BTRB looked to buildings around A&M’s campus, like the Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building and Instructional Laboratory & Innovative Learning Building, as well as from other universities like the Bioscience Research Laboratories at the University of Arizona, for inspiration for modern labs that will be able to support sophisticated research.
“A number of times over the history of the last 30 to 40 years people have envisioned a new biology building for Texas A&M,” Mark Zoran, Ph.D., biology professor and former dean of the College of
and Sciences said. “Now that we can see it in the future, I’m gonna make sure that it happens this time.”
Rivas, now the center’s tour coordinator, said his childhood role models were Steve Irwin and the brothers Martin and Chris Kratt, who inspired him with their ability to engage the public and connect others with animals. He said the tours not only help raise funds, but also give visitors a chance to learn each animal’s story.
“Every animal has their own personality,” Rivas said. “One of our servals, Pharaoh, came to us with two broken femurs. We were able to fix one, but the other had to be amputated. He lives his life with three legs, but that doesn’t stop him from being playful and affectionate.”
Each semester, the Winnie Carter Wildlife Center offers a VTPP 285 course open to all majors and classifications. Those enrolled complete duties similar to those of a zookeeper for a semester and are assigned an animal to take care of. Students will be required to come to the center almost every day to keep up with enclosure maintenance and veterinary care.
“Good students never go away once they start at the center,” Blue-McLendon said. “They might be moving dirt or helping with a veterinary procedure, but everything a student does here is to take care of the animals. Our goal is to provide hands-on experience for anyone looking to further their knowledge and skills in wildlife or conservation medicine.”
Rivas, who plans to become a zoological veterinarian, has started applying to veterinary schools. He agreed that the wildlife center provides valuable hands-on experience, but more importantly, it’s given him a sense of purpose.
“I grew up in a rough area in Houston, where most kids my age were interested in cars or shoes,” Rivas said. “For me, it was always animals. So coming into work everyday, to be surrounded by the animals I care for so much, that’s not just a job — it’s my livelihood.”
Arts
Animal science junior Mario Rivas interacts with a patagonian maras at the Winnie Carter Wildlife Center on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025.
Top to bottom: A student poses inside a laboratory he works at in the Biological Sciences Building West on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. Inside a laboratory in the Biological Sciences Building West on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025.
Erin Wunderlich THE BATTALION
Photos by Alessandra Balassa THE BATTALION
SILVER TAPS
ACeremony: Tuesday, Nov. 4, at 10:30 p.m. at Academic Plaza.
Warning: There will be gun sounds at the ceremony. Please remember to remain quiet upon arrival.
Logan Cade Szulewski
August 19, 2005 - September 1, 2025
n Aggie who was ‘steady, thoughtful and full of love’
Logan Szulewski — an Aggie of many passions — found joy in taking care of animals and learning about microbiology and computer advancements.
Logan graduated from The Woodlands High School in May 2024 as a decorated member of the cadet leadership team in the Air Force Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corp program as a community service officer.
After graduation, Logan had his eyes set on one school: Texas A&M. Though his parents urged him to apply to schools across Texas, his dad, Joseph Szulewski, said there was only one that Logan wanted to attend, and he was going to do whatever it took to get there.
“He was so adamant about wanting to go to be an Aggie,” Joseph said. “That was his world right there. He peaked at that point. He was happy to be there, and he would send me pictures from the first week of school where he was showing the biology lab and all the free stuff they had there … figuring out the campus. And I think that was everything for him, because he made it.”
After spending a year at Lone Star College, a community college system in Houston, Logan transferred to A&M as a microbiology sophomore with aspirations of becoming a veterinarian.
This passion stemmed from an early age when his mother, Kayla Flores, recounted him saving worms on the sidewalk and calming goats in the petting zoo, deeming him the “goat whisperer.”
“He just loved animals,” Kayla said. “We were at the petting zoo —
he wasn’t very old at all — and all of the goats are running around crazy because all of the kids are running around crazy, trying to play with the goats, and I look over and Logan is with one specific goat, and he’s petting him, and the goat was calm and standing on this hay, and it was the only goat in the place that was calm. And so we joked that Logan was the goat whisperer because he was the only little kid that wasn’t driving all the goats crazy.”
For several summers, Logan worked at veterinary clinics in Connecticut, including Brass City Rescue Alliance and Dr. Robb’s ProtectThe Pets; he answered phones, filed paperwork, cleaned kennels and occasionally assisted with small surgeries when he was just 16 and 17 years old. Kayla and Joseph noted that Logan had a natural instinct and affinity for helping animals.
“He was just sitting there basically feeding, letting dogs out, and he really liked that,” Joseph said. “He always talked about how some of the other workers were just lazy or late, but he was the quintessential worker when it came to that stuff. When he was there, he was dedicated, and he wanted to be there on time every day.”
Described as a hard worker dedicated to serving others, Kayla said Logan got a job at Lowe’s, lifting pallets for customers and doing anything and everything he could in the landscaping department. One day, Kayla noticed her house was looking a little more green than usual and, of course, Logan was the culprit.
“He became very passionate about plants,” Kayla said. “He got a job at
Lowe’s at the end of last year in the landscaping department and then all of a sudden, I have a lot of plants in my backyard. So he started buying all these plants and potting them, and he also had a green thumb. … We had a Christmas tree that we bought from a farm when he was younger and the farm, I guess it was just bad. It was up in California, so our tree was practically dead within days of having it, and he took a stump from the tree and somehow grew another little tree through the stump.”
Developing a green thumb wasn’t the only positive thing that came out of Logan’s time at Lowe’s.
After speaking with his boss, Kayla said Logan’s work ethic surpassed that of many employees, due in large part to his devotion to helping others and constant persistence as a light in the lives of others.
“[Logan’s boss] said he always came in with a smile,” Kayla said.“He goes, ‘In fact, if I had 20 of Logan at my store, it would be the best store. He is so hardworking.’ He had caught him out in the rain, loading pallets one day, and he said, ‘Logan, you can’t be out in the storm.’ And Logan said, ‘Well, I’m helping a customer.’ Then his manager goes, ‘Okay, well, can you at least put on a rain jacket?’ So that was just how Logan was. He was ... always there for people.”
Family-oriented, Kayla said holidays and birthdays were important to Logan as he constantly made efforts to reach out to family members, no matter how busy life got.
“I would say Logan is one of the most intellectual people I’ve ever met, very intellectual, hardworking, kind, absolutely lovable, positive and
an amazing family member — to me, to his dad, to his brother, even to my fiance, to my parents, he’s probably one of the only grandkids that calls all the grandparents, even his great aunt on her birthday and holidays and things like that,” Kayla said. “ … He’s a great family member all around.”
Possessing altruistism, compassion and kindheartedness, Kayla said Logan carried empathy for both animals and people.
Kayla’s fiance, Rob Leal, said Logan looked out for others daily, ensuring they left every conversation feeling better than they had before.
“He had one of the kindest hearts you could ever know,” Rob said.“He treated everyone with warmth and respect, never passing up a chance to lend a hand or share a laugh. He worked hard at everything he did, not because he had to, but because he cared so deeply about doing things right.”
For Logan’s family, friends and anyone who encountered him, Rob said he found a way to make them feel important and loved.
Kayla, Joseph and Rob said his legacy will continue through the lives of those that he positively impacted.
“As a son, brother and friend, he was someone you could always count on — steady, thoughtful and full of love,” Rob said. “He was the kind of person who made everyone around him better, just by being there. And no matter where he was, he always seemed to be the smartest person in the room, not just in knowledge, but in wisdom and heart. His life left an imprint on everyone lucky enough to know him.”
LIFE & ARTS
Aggies to run in NYC
Pair of A&M students, siblings to run TCS New York City Marathon for cancer charity
By Avery Kracmer Associate Life & Arts Editor
The sun slowly rises over College Station, casting a soft glow on two runners meandering through the quiet streets near campus. As they fall into a consistent pace, their strides align, creating the illusion of one unit. Their breaths sync up, slowing their heart rates and easing their nerves.
With every step, they find their rhythm. The siblings are bound by the same pace, the same purpose and the same determination that has dragged them out of bed before sunrise since the summer.
To most in Aggieland, it’s just another early Saturday in September. To kinesiology senior Jack Davis and marketing sophomore Josie Davis, it’s another step — 17 miles, this time — toward 26.2 miles through the streets of New York City for the TCS New York City Marathon.
For fourth-generation Aggies Jack and Josie, running has become just as much second nature as rooting for the Maroon and White. After running the BryanCollege Station half-marathon together last December, they decided the next step would be a full-fledged marathon.
With their father, Will Davis, turning 50 this year, he wanted to challenge his children to run a marathon and Will thought what better than the TCS New York City Marathon — considered to be one of the seven major world marathons — and, of course, Jack and Josie were up for the challenge.
to friends, just [to] kind of tell them about the cause and how we were running for our grandma. We also put it on like some of our social media. … We’ve gotten a lot of generous support from friends and family.”
The family is running alongside 50 other competitors for the James Blake Foundation. Over the summer, they joined several Zoom calls to meet the other runners. Jack said he looks forward to meeting them face-to-face for the first time when they line up for the race on Sunday, Nov. 2.
“And we’re excited to get to meet the other members,” Josie said. “The day before the race and then at the race, we’ll get to meet with the other members of the team and then the people that helped organize it and walked us through the steps of joining the fundraising team. So that’ll be exciting getting to meet them in person and establish connections and friendships with those running for the same cause.”
Finding their stride
With this being Josie and Jack’s first marathon and Will’s first marathon in about 25 years, preparation began early this year. In August, the foundation passed out training materials to runners to prepare them for a successful race. Spanning across three months, Will said they each wound up running over 359 miles.
“I’m kind of ready for the training to be done, just because it’s been hard,” Will said. “But now we’re tapering down, so that part is nice, and, you know, we got our longest runs out of the way.”
We get to run and getting to do it together and we are getting to do it for a reason that is really near to our hearts.
“The half marathon last year was a pretty big step for me as far as like a longer race, and, I mean, this will be a big step as well — first marathon,” Josie said. “It’s exciting to go all the way to New York City for it.”
More than a race
Josie Davis Marketing Sophomore
The duo cherished Saturday mornings leading up to the race when they would call their dad to pass time during their long runs. Designated as their weekly catchup, Will would start his run at 5:30 a.m. with Josie and Jack starting around 7 a.m.
“
They began by applying through the marathon lottery, where only 2-3% of over 200,000 applicants are accepted — a statistic Will noted is lower than admission to Harvard. After facing rejection, Will found an alternative option for his family: raising money for an official charity partner.
“We found this one called the James Blake Foundation … what the James Blake Foundation does is they raise money for cancer awareness and that’s something that’s pretty personal to us because our grandma passed away from cancer in 2012,” Jack said. “So we thought it’d be cool to run for this foundation, in her honor, and so we got in contact with them, and they let us join the team.”
Partnering with the foundation required each participant to raise $5,000 for the foundation’s fund benefitting Memorial Sloan Kettering, which focuses on early cancer detection research. Both Josie and Jack created accounts through GivenGain, a nonprofit platform that sends money directly to the foundation.
Starting in late spring, the siblings reached out to family, friends and other Aggies to meet their goal, surpassing $4,000 each by the beginning of October.
“We first created a fundraising page and just started sending it out to lots of people,” Jack said.“We sent letters to family members,
“It’s fun how a lot of our long runs kind of correlate to when our dad is running too,” Josie said. “So getting to call him and see how he’s feeling is good.We’re following the same training plan that we got from our like fundraising team that they sent out to everyone on the team.”
For Josie, the most difficult part of training came with the mental wall — pushing herself, both physically and mentally, past what she believed to be her limits. Josie said remaining grounded in her faith and adjusting her mindset has been imperative for her success.
“I think maybe that’s kind of been the hardest just pushing past the thoughts of, ‘I don’t know, if I can do it,’ and just like focusing on the joy. We get to run and getting to do it together and we are getting to do it for a reason that is really near to our hearts,” Josie said. “I think just replacing some of those thoughts with more positive ones helped.”
For Jack, consistency — despite his demanding class schedule and extracurriculars — proved to be the most challenging aspect of preparation. The rigorous training plan suggested daily runs, and Jack often found the best time to get his runs in was early in the morning or late at night.
Marketing sophomore Josie Davis and kinesiology senior Jack Davis go on a practice run with their dad, Will Davis, in preparation for the TCS New York City Marathon at Aggie Park on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025.
Abdurahman Azeez — THE BATTALION
Songwriter festival strikes Downtown Bryan
Hometown Texas artists brave weather conditions, wrap up weekend-long inaugural event
By Sophia Munoz Life & Arts Writer
On a Saturday afternoon, students and residents of Bryan-College Station began to trickle into the downtown streets, attracted by live music projected on stage speakers. Even as shoes and jean hems became soggy with rainfall, it was never a question whether the festivities would continue.
Rolling thunder and pelting rain may be enough to run-off the top soil of Texas dirt, but music roots run deep in Bryan-College Station.
On Oct. 25, the inaugural Bryan Texas Songwriter Festival wrapped up a weekend filled with performances from local songwriters and Texas A&M former students. Free performances were held across the main stage, set up in the streets of historic Downtown Bryan, with pop-up events held at Hush and Whisper Distilling Co. Intimate VIP performances were hosted
Festival origins
Singer-songwriter Kyle Hutton ‘92 attended A&M as a marketing student but found himself immersed in the music community of Bryan-College Station. Music followed him after graduation — even in his 13 years as a corporate professional — before he decided to pursue songwriting full time.
“Music has been a great opportunity for me to learn how to relax and be more transparent, be more authentic,” Hutton said. “It’s taught me a lot about managing anxiety. It’s taught me a lot about hard work. It’s taught me a lot about persistence because it’s definitely not an easy business.”
After establishing a musical presence in Houston with his contributions as founder of the Real Life Real Music Foundation, Hutton moved back to Bryan in 2023. Feeling the need to bring a music festival to the downtown scene, Hutton pitched the idea to the City of Bryan and said he quickly gained its support, along with other entities like Destination Bryan and the
initiatives.
“We’re already looking at a handful of initiatives here in the Bryan area,” Hutton said. “Including an organization that’s wanting to start a songwriting event that’s to benefit mental health and showcase songwriters that have written songs based on their own mental health journeys.”
By February, planning was in full swing, and Hutton began to handpick each artist based on his personal admiration for their skills. Hutton said festival coordination went smoothly — besides the caveat of finding the right weekend in the middle of Aggieland’s busiest season — football season.
Kickoff to the end
The second and final day of the festival kicked off with sets from students selected by the College of Performance,Visualization and Fine Arts. Among them was the Nico Rey Band on the main stage at 1 p.m. The alternative indie band brought a fresh perspective to the primarily country singer
For All Aggies and Especially the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Class of ‘29
“Don’t Quit”
line-up, with songs from their new album, ‘Lily.’ Lead singer and economics graduate student Nico Ruiz Barnes was joined by his friends and bandmates computer science junior Wyatt Soper and Alessio Sarmiento.
“If you want my best technical performance, you can listen to the album,” Barnes said. “I think the purpose of live music is just the artistic expression and the emotional release. When you get to share that with someone else in the crowd, it’s really fun.”
Quickly following the Nico Rey Band on the mainstage, the Tex-Mex-inspired group Tejas Brothers came to perform their energetic and impromptu set at 2:30 p.m.
“We don’t use set lists, and there is never the same show ever,” Tejas Brothers Lead Singer Chris Perez said. “ … It’s communication with the crowd. I’m going to read the crowd and say, ‘Hey, I think they’re ready for this.’”
As you go, so goes Texas A&M, the greatest state in America, and the greatest nation the world has ever known. The Spirit, Traditions and Values that called you to this campus now belong to you to perpetuate — but first you must perservere.
“Don’t Quit”
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill, When the funds are low and the debts are high, And you want to smile but you have to sigh. When care is pressing you down a bit, Rest if you must, but don’t you quit Life is strange with its twists and turns, As everyone of us sometimes learns, And many a fellow comes about
When he might have won had he stuck it out; Don’t give up though the pace seems slowYou may succeed with another blow. Often the goal is nearer than it seems to a faint and faltering man; Often the struggler has given up When he might have captured the victor’s cup; But he learned too late when the night came down, how close he was to the golden crown. Success is failure turned inside out –The silver tint of the clouds of doubt, And when you never can tell how close you are, It may be near when it seems afar; So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit –It’s when things seem worst, you must not quit.
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill, When the funds are low and the debts are high, And you want to smile but you have to sigh. When care is pressing you down a bit, Rest if you must, but don’t you quit Life is strange with its twists and turns, As everyone of us sometimes learns, And many a fellow comes about When he might have won had he stuck it out; Don’t give up though the pace seems slowYou may succeed with another blow. Often the goal is nearer than it seems to a faint and faltering man; Often the struggler has given up When he might have captured the victor’s cup; But he learned too late when the night came down, how close he was to the golden crown. Success is failure turned inside out –The silver tint of the clouds of doubt, And when you never can tell how close you are, It may be near when it seems afar; So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit –It’s when things seem worst, you must not quit.
-Edgar Albert Guest
-Edgar Albert Guest
in venues such as the Grand Stafford Theater and the Palace Theater.
Bryan Business Council. Hutton plans for all profits made from the festival to go toward the Real Life Real Music Foundation and its musical programming
Left to right: Audience members dance to the Tejas Brothers’ performance during the Bryan Texas Songwriter Festival in Downtown Bryan on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. An audience member records The Band of
Heathens’ performance during the Bryan Texas Songwriter Festival in Downtown Bryan on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025.
Opinion: No sealing shut the A&M presidency
In light of the political firing of McCoul, who gets a seat at the search-committee table?
By Sidney Uy Opinion Writer
The question that should be on every student’s mind is a very simple one: What are the new criteria for a permanent university president, and who gets to determine those criteria?
Texas A&M has made national news for all of the wrong reasons, and we are bound to put ourselves in that position again if A&M leadership continues to accommodate the state’s anti-diversity agenda at the expense of the student body.
In the last two years, two former A&M presidents have left the strenuous position under anomalous circumstances involving anti-diversity rhetoric. As a result, A&M has become a controversy machine that has lampooned academic freedom across the state and country.
Barely one week after Welsh resigned, Texas Tech University Chancellor Tedd L. Mitchell sent a letter to the five universities in the System explaining that they will comply with “applicable law.” However, this is done in the context of the U.S. Executive Branch’s call to limit classroom discussions to two genders — legal course content protected by the first amendment. Hence, this limitation is not law, but instead stems from anti-Diversity, Equality and Inclusion, or anti-DEI, initiatives that masquerades itself as such.
The plethora of empty accusations of “DEI” and flimsy interpretations of non-existent laws coming from politicians
and state-appointees actively dismantles the structures of excellence at A&M.
A president missing-in-action may not faze some Texas politicians — especially those who called for Welsh’s resignation. However, the ongoing meltdown over “child indoctrination” tends to overwhelm university leadership, put faculty under the threat of continuous surveillance and most of all, worry students who are concerned about the value of their degrees.
The carving out of Welsh — the former four-star general, director of the CIA on military matters and dean of the Bush School of Government & Public Service turned A&M president — indicates a stark transformation of what leadership means. If proper leadership today means acting in accordance with fear and volatile politics, then A&M is in deep trouble.
Given the latest crackdowns on gender identity dialogue and studies in higher education, the finding of a permanent president is overshadowed by a polarized online milieu of leaked videos, character assassinations, real assassinations and faculty doxxings.
Chancellor Glenn Hegar’s solution is a blue-ribbon committee composed of the same regents whose messages and emails were leaked in the botched hiring process of Kathleen McElroy, Ph.D. — a seasoned journalist and Aggie who aimed to revive A&M’s journalism department.
Some of these individuals include Chairman Robert L. Albritton and two other Regent members — John W. Bellinger and Mike Hernandez. Each member of the Board of Regents, including the ones on the committee — is appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott.
Hegar’s new blue-ribbon committee is composed of 16 members who ironi-
cally come from diverse backgrounds including military, engineering, business and educational professionals. By definition, a blue-ribbon committee is supposed to be an independent group of professionals who are not motivated by political influence.
The focus should be on finding the correct candidate who can navigate multiple pressure points. Unfortunately, this is far from reality.
In the Texas Tribune article published in August 2023, both the Board of Regents and former A&M President Kathy Bank’s emails were released. In Hernandez’s conversation with Banks, he assumed that McElroy’s prior work with the New York Times and the University of Texas meant that her work was progressive leaning. This sentiment ultimately led to her not being offered tenure — certainly not what McElroy had expected.
Furthermore, Regent Jay Graham, who was promoted this year to vice chairman of the Board of Regents, wrote the following in a released message: “I thought the purpose of us starting a journalism program was to get high-quality Aggie journalist[s] with conservative values into the market. This won’t happen with someone like this leading the department.”
In November 2023, Bellinger emailed Albritton, saying “We really need[ed] to vet this guy” in response to a Texas Scorecard — a right-wing website — post about Welsh’s transition from interim to permanent president.
In light of Welsh’s resignation, Albritton made unsubstantiated claims about the law; Albritton, who was elected chairman in April, claimed that McCoul’s class “broke the law,” but could not specify which law. Likewise, the state DEI-ban does not actually regulate the content of college courses,
but rather refers to employment practices.
Needless to say, the same regent members who lead the charge against McElroy — and more recently, McCoul — were reappointed and reelected to their positions of power. Today, they determine the fate of A&M’s academic and professional reputations.
It still remains unclear why and for what reasons certain committee members were chosen instead of others. But we can be certain that these three regents were not reprimanded, but rather promoted for treating professors and Welsh as poorly as they did since the Banks scandal.
Furthermore, when asked about the role Student Body President Carter Mallory has as a search committee member, the Student Government Association executive did not reply to two emails I sent out inquiring about his role in the search committee.
In September, both Mallory and Student Body Vice President Kathleen Parks wrote a letter about rules for course descriptions, inferring that McCoul’s course did not align with academic integrity.
However, they did not provide evidence backing up this claim, or specify how students would benefit from the alleged university policies they are supposedly advocating for. The operation is completely opaque to students. When anomalous mistakes become more like patterns, we become bound to repeat those same mistakes. A more transparent and candid selection process is long overdue. We need a permanent president who can stand up for the entirety of A&M and all its 16 academic colleges. We deserve that president, and we’re still waiting.
Sidney Uy is a philosophy junior and opinion writer for The Battalion.
Opinion: Words matter — even in group chats
It’s time to reject, condemn violent language for good
By Wyatt Pickering Opinion Columnist
“Boom — they’re dead.”
Instead of an edgy teenage boy saying this in a “Call of Duty” lobby, these were the words of New York State Young Republicans, or NYSR, General Counsel Joseph Maligno talking about the best way to kill Jewish people in a group chat.
Since the release of leaked chats by the NYSR club, there has been a significant rise in Nazi and white supremacist imagery in the United States. From a University of Georgia student wearing a Nazi uniform as a Halloween costume to a U.S. representative having an altered U.S. flag with a swastika on it in his D.C. office — despite his claims that the optical illusion was sent to him — it’s a clear reminder that violent ideologies are on the rise.
We live in a world where it’s very easy to say what we want behind a screen. If it’s said in a group chat as a joke, is it okay?
Wrong. What we say does matter, and we should never tolerate hateful language from anyone, including the people who claim to be our leaders. Fortunately, many people were quick to criticize the words of these people — except for those in our highest offices. Vice President JD Vance dismissed these leaked chats as a “college group chat,” saying people have said much worse things about others. This is the next generation of leaders for the Republicans. They know better. If anything, they should know more than any of us the danger of these words.
groups. From dog whistles to outright hate speech, language meant to harm others can alter the way we view and treat others, leading directly to discrimination and perpetuation of further forms of violence.
As citizens of the U. S., the words we say are protected by our First Amendment right to free speech. No matter what you say or how unpopular your opinion is, those beliefs cannot be censored by the government.
The First Amendment is often brought up in cases to defend people who use violent language. While the First Amendment protects your right to say what you want, it doesn’t protect you from the consequences of your actions.
The government cannot do or say anything that prevents you from saying awful things, but we as citizens still have the right to call out such behavior and choose not to tolerate such words in our society. Freedom of speech goes both ways, and we should always choose to encourage speech that uplifts others.
So while you can say what you want, just remember that you are not free from being judged by others for what you say. Just ask the people involved in the NYSR group chat leak.
We should be looking toward our leaders for examples of how to act and speak about others, but it seems as though this is no longer advisable because leaders refuse to hold those accountable who say such terrible things in exchange for party loyalty.
However, JD Vance was determined to bring up Jay Jones — a Democratic candidate to be Virginia’s attorney general — as an example of actual harmful language. In a 2022 group chat with multiple of his colleagues, Jay Jones fantasized about shooting Virginia’s former Speaker of the House Todd Gilbert and his children. Rightfully, Jay Jones should be called out for this behavior, and Virginia Democrats are in the wrong for failing to properly admonish him for his words.
just so happens to disagree with you on certain issues.
With both of these scenarios, we should be quick to condemn the violent words and rhetoric used by people in our political parties. Violent language only normalizes violence in all its forms within our society, which can affect all of us. We shouldn’t see party lines as a barrier to criticism; hate is not okay because your target of criticism
Let’s ask ourselves, how does violent language — like the words of members of the NYSR club — actually hurt people?
Words define who we are and shape our understandings of the world around us. It isn’t always immediately obvious, but when society makes the use of derogatory terms against others normal, we start to see a snowball effect of these words becoming the realities of oppressed and marginalized
There is a distinct lack of empathy that is forming in our society, and we shouldn’t lose the aspects that make us human. We all have the power to respect one another and choose not to say awful things at someone else’s expense.
Calling out people for their disgusting actions is not “woke,” and I am tired of this being the case. Life is hard enough as it is; be a human and choose not to use harmful language — even when nobody is watching.
Wyatt Pickering is a business honors and finance junior and opinion columnist for The Battalion.
Illustration by Corynn Young THE BATTALION
Illustration by Susana Lazcano THE BATTALION
ENTERTAINMENT
A&M chasing 1990s-level history
Elko has Aggies playing at R.C. Slocum levels as they look to finish what 1992 unit started
By Noah Ruiz Senior Sports Writer
With No. 3 Texas A&M football entering its second bye week, there’s a key similarity between this season and 1992’s team: Both Aggie squads were undefeated, and the latter finished 12-1. It’s been a demanding road campaign, with close games against then-No. 8 Notre Dame and Arkansas, plus a blowout win over then-No. 20 LSU, but the fact of the matter is that the Maroon and White have continued to find ways to win and have positioned themselves for greatness.
It’s been a while since A&M has reached such rarified air; in fact, it’s been over 30 years since its last 8-0 start. But something feels different about this year: There’s a no-nonsense mentality that has won over the 12th Man and, so far, all of the competition the Aggies have faced.
There’s a secret ingredient to achieving this kind of success, and it’s something that
the 1992 Aggies had as well on their warpath through the Southwest Conference — a coach that fits. Coach R.C. Slocum was the defense-first mastermind behind A&M’s rise to national prominence, and his coaching style employed an understanding of what the Maroon and White stands for.
In coach Mike Elko, it’s apparent that a similar coaching style has arrived back in College Station. Elko, a former defensive coordinator, has brought the Wrecking Crew back to Aggieland as A&M leads the country in sacks with 32 on the season.
Slocum knew a thing or two about coaching superb defense as the Aggies’ most successful coach, with his units taking down four Heisman Trophy winners in the span of six years. While there has yet to be a clearcut frontrunner for this year’s Heisman, A&M surely has itself a contender for it.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Marcel Reed has cemented his case for winning the prestigious honor by toppling college football giants over the course of the season, with six touchdowns across his performances against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the LSU Tigers. The Nashville, Tennessee, product commands one of the last undefeated teams in the country with his 23 total touchdowns.
The Aggies faced the Bayou Bengals in Death Valley in 1992 as well, taking home a 31-22 victory while also facing the Irish in the Cotton Bowl. The only difference was that A&M came up short in its bowl game against Notre Dame, whereas this year, a win was achieved on the road thanks to Reed and graduate student tight end Nate Boerkircher’s last-minute heroics.
Reed and Co. are still chasing Slocum’s 7-0 mark in conference play, but will have to play an additional Southeastern Conference game to finish undefeated in the league. One last road matchup against No. 19 Missouri will complete the month-long hiatus from Kyle Field, and two wins at home might just be enough for a spot in the College Football Playoff.
More similarities to the ‘92 season can be found in the fact that A&M played Missouri, LSU and archrival Texas away from home in 1992, and like that year, the Aggies will be eager to win all of these daunting road tests.
Redshirt senior defensive end Cashius Howell has played the role of enforcer on the Aggie defense, as he leads the SEC in sacks and ranks third in the country. He fills a similar role to 1992’s defensive back Aaron Glenn, a junior college transfer turned first-
team All-SWC star who was a key piece in holding the defense together with nine passes defended. That’s not to say 1992 didn’t have a prolific pass rusher as well, as defensive lineman Sam Adams was an all-conference selection in his sophomore year after picking up 4.5 sacks on the season. Adams would go on to be drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft in 1994, which is something Howell has continued to trend up toward as the season continues.
Season-defining moments happen in November, and Howell, Reed and their closest 20 friends will have to deliver knock-out punch after knock-out punch to get to where their 1992 predecessors were. Moreover, this year’s unit has a chance to be the best the school has ever seen, as Elko and Director of Football Strength & Conditioning Tommy Moffitt have found the method to get even more out of their players.
While Ags old and young will remember the glory days of the 1990s Wrecking Crew, and rightfully so, the 2025 A&M squad seems destined for even more. Perhaps with their sharpened resolve and impeccable leadership from Elko, the Aggies could be seen raising a trophy at the start of 2026 to the delight of the 12th Man everywhere.
Week 10 Jimbo jumpscare: An Aggie’s worst nightmare
It’s a Texas A&M football bye week and with Halloween on the horizon, it would be a fright if we missed out on the opportunity for our most beloved weekly activity: staff picks. In light of coaching changes across the college football landscape, Jimbo Fisher is back from the grave and ready to rejoin the coaching ranks to haunt a new fanbase. Here are our takes on whether Jimbo will crawl his way back into the moonlight.
Tight end Greg Schorp celebrates a touchdown during Texas A&M football’s game against Stanford at Anaheim Stadium on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 1992. Photo
SPORTS
Complete guide to new world of Bucky Ball
A&M hoops tips off season against Northwestern State with fully overhauled roster, fresh set of expectations
By Ian Curtis Editor-in-Chief
It’s not just hype anymore. It’s not just about incoming transfers, preseason polls and Jon Rothstein tweets about who looks like a dangerous dark horse or which player will rise above their station this season.
Bucky Ball is real — and it’s spectacular.
The 12th Man is in for an exciting energy under new Texas A&M men’s basketball coach Bucky McMillan based on the Aggies 95-88 exhibition win over — an admittedly shorthanded — Arizona State in Rosenberg last Sunday.
Get ready for full-court press defense on every possession, quick trips to the free throw line and a whole lot of 3-pointers. These are the tenets of Bucky Ball, a system
designed by McMillian with one goal in mind: Create high-possession games.
“We’re going to play a high-possession game,” McMillan said after A&M’s exhibition win over Arizona State. “That’s just how we play. So the fouls are going to be up there.We don’t want to foul, but we want to have that high-possession game where we’re putting them in foul trouble because there’s more possessions than a normal game.”
Graduate student forward Zach Clemence led the charge against the Sun Devils, with 20 points on 5-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc. The 6-foot-11 former Kansas Jayhawk also grabbed seven rebounds.
As for who will pop off against Northwestern State on Monday, nobody knows. That’s the beauty of Bucky Ball. It can be a different player every game. The Aggies had nine players score against Arizona State, and all of them had at least six points.
That’ll be important given that two of the Maroon and White’s most talented transfers — junior guard Pop Isaacs and junior F Mackenzie Mgbako — are both expected to miss time due to injury in the early part of the season.
“Most of the teams I’ve coached were 10 to 11 deep,” McMillan said. “ … It’s somebody’s night one night, somebody’s night the next night. But my whole deal is you can be out there as long as you can play it, as hard as you can play it unselfish.”
This is an A&M roster that came together rather last-minute, after McMillan was hired in early April with just one returning player for the Aggies after many transfers had already signed. As such, there were some chemistry issues that came up against the Sun Devils as the Aggies finished with 18 turnovers.
“Every team I think, in the first game, three things usually happen,” McMillan said. “Turnovers, bad shots and too many fouls. That’s usually what happens in every first game, every team that I’ve ever coached. Doesn’t matter how much we talk about it. … Not for the wrong reasons, just so amped up to play.”
McMillan wants to make one thing clear: Sometimes, this A&M team may not pass the eye test — but they will pass the analytics test.
“Sometimes, defense can feel worse than
it is when they’re getting some uncontested buckets,” McMillan said. “But at the end of the day, it’s two points, and we just go by the point per possession. And at the end of the day, if we hold them below 1.07, I trust that the totality of what we do will lean on them to break their defense down so that we can flourish late.”
The Aggies will begin the regular season against a Northwestern State team that’s seen its own transfer portal struggles.
Ranked 267th in the country in KenPom’s preseason rankings, the Demons enter the year without their two mostused players last season in Second-Team All-Southland senior Addison Patterson and senior Jon Sanders II, who both transferred to Eastern Michigan.
They’ll have to rely on senior guard Micah Thomas, who was named to last year’s Southland Conference All-Tournament team and averaged 17 points during the conference tournament.
The 12th Man will get its first look at regular season Bucky Ball when the Aggies face the Demons on Monday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m.
Rise, fall of A&M soccer’s 2025 campaign
Promising start on pitch gives way to heartbreak, Guerrieri retirement after worst season of program’s 32-year history
By Diego Saenz
Senior Sports Writer
Texas A&M soccer’s season came to an abrupt end on Sunday, Oct. 26, with a 3-0 loss to Kentucky at Ellis Field. Rubbing salt in the open wound, coach G Guerrieri announced on Tuesday that he would be retiring from the program after 32 years, following a season that will go down statistically as the worst since the team’s founding in 1993.
The Aggies entered the regular-season finale with just two conference wins — in search of a third — while also needing several teams to lose for a chance to sneak into the Southeastern Conference Tournament. Only the top 12 teams in the conference could advance, and A&M sat at No. 13 heading into the matchup. But that postseason hope vanished with the loss, marking the first time in program history that the Aggies haven’t qualified for the SEC Tournament.
Despite the result, the season’s outlook didn’t seem so gloomy at first, as A&M opened the campaign in promising fashion, going undefeated through its first six matches with three wins and three draws. The offense was rolling, outscoring opponents 12-4 and looking like a top-25 team.
But the attack slowed down just as quickly — along with A&M’s season. So how did such a promising start turn into the worst season in program history?
While it’s hard to pinpoint one specific moment, the 2-1 loss against then-No. 4 TCU on Sept. 7 stands out. The game was tied 1-1 with five minutes left before the Horned Frogs scored the eventual game-winner. That heartbreaking goal didn’t just end A&M’s unbeaten streak. In hindsight, it marked the beginning of the end for the Maroon and White’s season.
The Aggies then opened SEC play on a four-game losing streak, defined by A&M’s inability to find the back of the net. De-
spite the skid, the Fightin’ Famers remained composed, conceding just one goal to two top-10 opponents — a testament to A&M’s resilience.
The Aggies finally broke through with a win over Texas in the Lone Star Showdown, sparking a flicker of hope.
That victory was followed by two draws, another win and a loss, which was just enough to keep the Aggies’ postseason dreams alive entering the season finale. But all hope faded when Kentucky blanked A&M 3-0 to end its season.
In SEC play, the Aggies were shut out in 7 of their 10 matches. The attack struggled all season, forcing the defense to execute near-flawless soccer for A&M to have any chance — a losing recipe in this sport. A&M ultimately finished SEC play with just four goals and eight total points, via two wins and two draws.
Even in a dim year, there were bright spots for the Aggies. Senior defender Bella Yakel emerged as the team’s cornerstone on the backline, as she logged 1,440 total minutes in her starting role and never left the pitch throughout A&M’s season. Her game-winning penalty against Missouri on Oct. 16 kept A&M’s postseason hopes alive, while her leadership anchored a defense that ranked ninth in the SEC, allowing only 1.18 goals per game.
While the backline held strong, the attack showed flashes of promise as well.
Offensively, junior forward Kaylee Noble, junior midfielder Trinity Buchanan and junior F Leah Diaz carried the load, combining for 12 of the team’s 17 goals while also contributing nine assists. Diaz and Buchanan led the charge up front, recording 37 and 38 shots, respectively, highlighting the duo’s potential for next season.
Perhaps the most encouraging sign looking forward for A&M is the youth of its roster. Of the 27 players, only three are seniors, giving the next coach an experienced group to build around.
With an incoming top-10 recruiting class, there’s reason for optimism in College Station. A solid transfer portal haul will be vital for a bounce-back year, but with A&M’s tradition, facilities and history of success, the program is well-positioned to attract top-tier talent once again.
Left to right: Graduate student guard Marcus Hill (0) shoots
