Martz Leads Owls at Rice Invitational

Friday, September 11

Houston, Texas

6:50 p.m.

Rice University

Rice Invitational

Photo by: Maria Lysaker

9/11/2026 9:24:00 PM | Men's Cross Country

Photo Gallery

By: Anthony Roberts (ar186@rice.edu)

HOUSTON - The Rice men's cross country team opened the 2026 season with a team title at the 50^th annual Rice Invitational on Friday afternoon at the Rice Intramural Fields. Brandon Martz finished in second to lead the Rice runners.

Post-Meet Reaction: Head Coach Jon Warren
"For not knowing where we were at to start the season with training and fitness, I thought we did really well. This was a good beginning to the season for our group. Brandon had a tremendous first race of the season to lead the group. Matthew also looked great today. This was a good start and we can build upon this for the season."

Martz led the Owls with a time of 16:16.1, with Matthew Gaitan finishing in third just seven seconds back of Martz.

Gus Gannon made his return for Rice, finishing in fourth, while Ben Pearce and Victor Aviles rounded out the Rice scorers in sixth and seventh, respectively.

Rice captured the team title for the second consecutive season.

Rice Performers
2. Brandon Martz – 16:16.1
3. Matthew Gaitan – 16:23.4
4. Gus Gannon – 16:26.1
6. Ben Pearce – 16:43.3
7. Victor Aviles – 16:43.4
8. Ben Tijerina – 16:44.5
10. Filippo Aldrovandi – 16:54.6
22. Jack Gurwitz – 17:34.2