United Athletic Conference

UT Rio Grande Valley's Abraham Chirchir and Mercy Chelangat have been named the Western Athletic Conference men's and women's Cross Country Athletes of the Week, respectively, for Aug. 27-Sept. 2.

 

Chirchir, a freshman from Iten, Kenya, won his first collegiate cross country race at the Texas A&M Aggie Opener, earning victory in the men's 6k with a time of 18:34.9 against a field of 54 runners. He led the Vaqueros to a second-place finish as a team, trailing only host Texas A&M, who entered the season ranked third in the USTFCCCA South Central Region Rankings. His time is the fifth-fastest 6k time in school history and the quickest since 2005. 

 

Chelangat, a freshman from Kericho, Kenya, became the first UTRGV women's runner to win a race since 2012 with a 1.6-second victory in the women's 4.1 k. She posted a time of 14:31.3 to finish ahead of a field of 55 runners and help lead UTRGV to a second-place team finish. The Vaqueros finished ahead of UTSA, the 14th-ranked team in the USTFCCCA South Central Region Rankings.

 

Other Men's Nominees: California Baptist's Simon Bedard finished eighth at the Mark Covert Invitational with a new personal best of 26:01.6 over the 8k course ... Chicago State's Desmond Meyer recorded his first top-five finish with a fourth-place performance at the NIU Huskie Challenge ... NM State's James McClain led the Aggies in the first race of his sophomore season, taking 12th at the Lobo Invitational ... Utah Valley's Anthony Ocegueda paced the Wolverines with a second-place finish at the UVU Invitational.

 

Other Women's Nominees: California Baptist's Anna Mate had a strong collegiate debut, taking second at the Mark Covert Invitational with a time of 17:52.5 ... Chicago State's Brenda Jepkoech led the Cougars with a 15th-place finish at the NIU Huskie Challenge ... NM State's Julia Yescasled the Aggie women with a 10th-place finish at the Lobo Invitational ... Utah Valley's Hannah Branch finished second at the UVU Invitational to lead the Wolverines to a first-place team finish.

 

Three schools will be in action this week as Kansas City and UT Rio Grande Valley race for the second week on Friday and Seattle U opens up its 2018 schedule on Saturday. Kansas City heads east to St. Louis for the Forest Park Invitational while UT Rio Grande Valley follows the gulf coast to Houston for the Norrey Hersey Rice Invitational. The Redhawks of Seattle U well make the trip to West Seattle for the Sundodger Invtational, hosted by Washington.

 

Three men's teams and one women's team were listed in the USTFCCCA Regional Cross Country Preseason Rankings. The Kansas City men are ranked 15th in the Midwest region. In the Mountain region, Utah Valley opens the season ranked 11th while NM State is 14th. On the women's side, Utah Valley is ranked 15th in the Mountain region.

 

When UT Rio Grande Valley duo Abraham Chirchir and Mercy Chelangat won the Texas A&M Aggie Opener on Aug. 31, it marked the first time since prior to 2004 that UTRGV swept the men's and women's races at a meet. It was also UTRGV's first women's win since 2012.

 

The 2018 WAC Cross Country Championships are headed to Seattle and will be hosted by Seattle U. The event will take place at Jefferson Park Golf Course. The Kansas City men look for the three-peat as champions while the NM State women will look to defend their 2017 title.

 

The 2018 Cross Country Regionals will be held at nine sites throughout the country on Friday, Nov. 9. WAC teams will be represented in four locations. The West Region will be held in Sacramento (Host: Sacramento State), the Mountain Region will be held in Provo, Utah (Host: Brigham Young), the South Central Regional will take place in College Station, Texas (Host: Texas A&M) and the Midwest Region will take place in Peoria, Ill. (Host: Bradley). 

 

The 2018 Cross Country National Championships will take place in Madison, Wis. on Nov. 17, and is hosted by Wisconsin. The race will take place at Zimmer Championship Course.