By Drew Harris | UTAMavs.com

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The UT Arlington men's and women's cross country teams will open their highly anticipated 2015 seasons Tuesday when the Mavericks travel south on Interstate 35 to take part in the Bear Twilight Invitational hosted by Baylor.

It is the second straight year that the Mavericks will open their campaigns at the meet, which will be held at the HOT Soccer Complex in Waco beginning at 7 p.m. The women will compete in a 4k race, while the men will run a 6k.

"We are excited to get going," UTA coach John Sauerhage said. "Both teams have trained very hard in the offseason and this will provide a nice gauge for us to see where we are and how far we need to go."

The men's squad is the favorite to win the Sun Belt Conference Championship, while the women were picked second in the league's preseason poll. Both teams return a trio of all-conference runners.

Senior Craig Lautenslager, who also earned All-South Central Regional honors a year ago, and classmate Eric Ojeda were first-teamers. Meanwhile, sophomore Michael Guerrero claimed second-team all-league mention.

UTA finished second among five teams at last year's Bear Twilight Invitational. The top returning finisher from that competition is senior Virgilio Martinez, who took ninth. Guerrero (10th) and junior Grant Copeland (13th) also had top-15 finishes.

The women's all-conference performers include senior Katelyn Hayward, who grabbed first-team All-SBC mention, as well as fellow seniors Gabriela Alfonzo and Ashly Wright, who earned spots on the second team.

The UTA women placed third at the 2014 Bear Twilight Invitational. Hayward finished eighth individually, while Wright took 13th at last year's season opener.

This is the first of four consecutive meets in the state of Texas to open the season for the Mavericks.