ARLINGTON, Texas – After a week hiatus, the UT Arlington cross country teams return to the course to continue their regular season competition at the 35th Annual Chile Pepper Festival at Agri Park on Friday, September 29, in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The women run in the second heat of the 5k which is slated for a 4:30 p.m. start time while the men also compete in the second heat of the 8k, set to begin at 5 p.m.
You can follow along with live results as well as a live webcast, that will be available for free, by following the links attached to this release. The live stream begins at 3:15 p.m. on Friday.
"This will be challenging for us with the men and women," said Head Coach
John Sauerhage. "Definitely our biggest test of the season against some top tier national and regional competition."
After not competing last week, the women remained ranked No. 7 in the South Central Region of the most recent rankings, released earlier this week, while the men fell one spot to No. 11. Both squads look to build on the momentum they've built in the first three meets of the season, with top three finishes in each meet on the year.
On the women's side, it's been a great mixture of newcomers with returners to pace the Mavericks. Freshmen
Matro Jepkemboi and
Winnie Kipsang along with junior transfer
Mercy Biwott have led the way for UTA, with six top 10 finishes amongst the three of them. The trio have each competed in two meets on the season.
Jepkemboi is the reigning WAC Cross Country Athlete of the Week after two second place finishes in her two races on the year. Returner
Lauren Walls-Portillo has run in all three meets so far this season and has finished ninth, 10th and 11th in those meets, respectively.
For the men, junior
Jackson Cichon has been the anchor for the Mavs so far this season, with two top 10 finishes so far this season.
Josue Granados has been solid all season for UTA, posting a sixth place and 12th place finish. In the three meets so far this year, the men have five top 10 finishes on the season.
FOLLOW ALONG
Follow the UTA track and field and cross country teams on Twitter (@UTAMavsTFXC), Instagram (@UTAMavsTFXC) and Facebook (/UTAMavsTFXC).
