Cross-country freshman Dorcas Jepkosgei follows second behind Morgan Nokes, Utah Valley University graduate student, during the Western Athletic Conference championships on Oct. 31 at the Harold Patterson Sports Center.Â
UTA men’s and women’s cross-country left it all on the course in the NCAA South Central Regional on Friday at Agri Park in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Both teams secured a 10th-place finish among over 20 schools that competed in both the men’s and women’s competitions. The women’s team finished with 294 points overall in its 6K, and the men’s team concluded regionals with 318 points in the 10K race.
Texas A&M University claimed the throne in the women’s 6K with a score of 71 points. Tulane University came out as the top dog in the men’s 10K with a team score of 44 points, despite University of Arkansas junior Timothy Chesondin coming in first place with a time of 28:44.4.
Freshman Dorcas Jepkosgei made her regional debut for the women’s team and showed why she earned the Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year award as she finished ninth in the women’s 6K with a time of 20:13.2.
Junior Matro Jepkemboi shined as well for the women’s team, coming in 18th place with a time of 20:42.9. This race marked Jepkemboi’s third regional appearance. In 2023, she finished third, the best individual performance in program history, which stamped her ticket to the championships.
Finishing out UTA women’s top five performers were freshman Linn Adolfsson, placing 87th and running 22:31.1, junior Lauren Baur, who placed 104th with a time of 22:47.1, and sophomore Abigail Perez, who finished 106th while running 22:48.9.
Sophomore Toby Eaton led the way for the Mavericks men’s team with a top 30 time of 30:57.3. Freshman Angel Sanchez finished second for UTA in his regional debut, posting a 32:04.0 run time to land in 66th place.
Also making their regional debuts and rounding out the top five finishes for the men’s team were freshmen Mateo Doherty and Kebede Kerlin, who ran times of 32:05.4 and 32:09.9, respectively. Senior Brian Guevara finished fifth for the Mavericks and 113th overall, posting a time of 33:15.0.
The race marked the end of the UTA cross-country teams’ fall season, with no members from either team being selected to qualify for the NCAA Cross Country Championships in the selection show broadcast Saturday on the NCAA website and YouTube.
@tdreevess