United Athletic Conference

The 2019 cross country schedule begins this weekend with all but one school in action. Three schools will open the schedule on Friday with Kansas City heading to the Mizzou XC Opener, Seattle U meeting up with Washington for a dual and UT Rio Grande Valley making the trip to San Antonio for the UIW Opener. On Saturday, California Baptist and CSU Bakersfield will take part in the Mark Covert Classic. Grand Canyon will take on Arizona in a dual, NM State heads to Albuquerque for the Lobo Invitational and Utah Valley hosts the UVU Invitational.

 

Three men's teams and three women's teams were listed in the USTFCCCA Regional Cross Country Preseason Rankings. In the Mountain Region, both the Utah Valley men and women are ranked 14th to open the season. UT Rio Grande Valley also has both programs ranked, with the men coming in at sixth in the South Central Region and the women coming in at eighth. California Baptist is represented in both West Region rankings with the men ranked 15th and the women ranked eighth.

 

The 2019 championships may look very similar to the 2018 championship as both individual champions from last season return in 2019. On the women's side, California Baptist will be led by senior Annet Somogyi and sophomore Karolina Iznerowicz. Men's champion Kevin Lynch returns for Utah Valley while UT Rio Grande Valley's Omen Almog and Abraham Chirchi return for the Vaqueros.

 

The 2019 WAC Cross Country Championships are headed to the Show-Me State and will be hosted by Kansas City. The event will take place at Swope Park. California Baptist will look for a second straight women's title while Utah Valley heads to KC as the defending champion on the men's side.

 

The 2019 Cross Country Regionals will be held at nine sites throughout the country on Friday, Nov. 15. WAC teams will be represented in four locations. The West Region will be held in Colfax, Wash. (Host: Washington State), the Mountain Region will be held in Salt Lake City (Host: Utah), the South Central Regional will take place in Fayetteville, Ark. (Host: Arkansas) and the Midwest Region will take place in Stillwater, Okla. (Host: Oklahoma State). 

 

The 2019 Cross Country National Championships will take place in Terre Haute, Ind. on Nov. 23, and is hosted by Indiana State. The race will take place at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.

 

A total of 11 WAC cross country teams were honored for their success in the classroom, as well as on the course, by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, earning Team Academic Awards.

 

Both the men and women from California Baptist, Grand Canyon, Kansas City, Seattle U and Utah Valley were honored. The NM State women also earned the academic award.

 

NM State had the top women's GPA among WAC schools at 3.67. Grand Canyon boasted the top GPA among the men's teams with a 3.63 mark. To qualify, a team must hold a combined cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.