ARLINGTON, Texas – The UT Arlington cross country teams will be back in full effect as the 2025 season kicks off on Friday, Sept. 5.
 
The upcoming campaign is composed of four regular season meets leading up to the Western Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships along with the NCAA South Central Regionals and NCAA Championships.

UTA will be the host site for the WAC Cross Country Championships which is set for Friday, October 31. This is the first time since 1992 that UTA has hosted a cross country conference championship and their first time ever doing so in the WAC.

The Mavericks' season will begin with their very own Gerald Richey Invitational on Friday, Sept. 5 at the Harold Patterson Sports Complex as the meet is named in honor of longtime former UTA assistant track and field coach Gerald Richey who passed away in 2019. Richey is an Arlington icon, spending 26 years (1969-95) at Arlington High School before coming over to UTA where he worked for 18 years (1995-2013). Last season, the men finished second while the women tabbed third.

Three of the four regular season meets are within the state of Texas while the other takes place in Arkansas. The NCAA South Central Regional will be hosted by Arkansas in Fayetteville and is slated for Friday, November 14. The NCAA Championships will take place on Saturday, November 22, and will be hosted by Missouri in Columbia.
 
UTA will compete in the Texas A&M Invitational on Sept. 13 in College Station as the Aggies come into the season ranked fourth on the men's side in the South Central Regional preseason rankings. On the women's side, Texas A&M enters the year ranked fourth as well while UTA is ranked 15th.
 
Ahead of Arkansas' Chile Pepper Festival on Oct. 4 in Fayetteville, the Razorbacks rank at the top of the South Central Regional preseason poll on both the men's and women's side. The last time the Mavs ran in Arkansas' event was back in 2023 where the women finished fourth.

Rounding out regular season competition is Texas A&M's Arturo Barrios Invitational on Oct. 17.

Head coach John Sauerhage and the Mavs return junior standout Matro Jepkemboi whose best finish last season of second came from the Gerald Richey. The Kenya native advanced to the NCAA South Central Region Cross Country Championships where she placed 18th with a time of 20:06.2 (6k).

Fellow teammate Emilia Mandl had a strong freshman campaign in 2024 where she joined Jepkemboi at the NCAA South Central Region Cross Country Championships finishing with a 6k time of 21:58.7. The sophomore posted a personal best time of 18:52.7 (5k) back at the Texas A&M Invitational in September last fall.

On the men's side, senior Rogelio Aguirre returns alongside Brian Guevara. Aguirre's best finish last fall was 19th place at UTA's Gerald Richey Invitational where he ran a 15:25.7 in the 3.12M. Guevara tabbed a personal best with a 15:40.1 in the men's 5k, leading to a 22nd place finish at TCU's John McKenzie Invitational last August.
   
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