Friday, October 30
Richmond, KY
University of Texas Arlington
vs
UAC Championships
Photo by: Aaron Cook
10/30/2026 1:48:00 PM | Cross Country
RICHMOND, Ky. – The inaugural UAC Cross Country Conference Championships turned into a big success for UT Arlington. The Mavericks — picked second in both the men's and women's UAC preseason poll — lived up to the billing, claiming silver as a team in both the women's 5k and the men's 8k.Â
UTA also had four runners finish in the top 10 individually. Eastern Kentucky earned the top spot as a team in both races.
Leading off the conference championships was the women's 5k. Dorcas Jepkosgei once again led the way for the Mavericks, finishing third individually with a time of 17:10.9. Â
The two runners the UTA sophomore finished behind — EKU's Brighter Jepchumba and Edna Chelulei — entered the meet ranked sixth and 17th respectively in the USTFCCCA's Division I Women's Cross Country Rating Index or XCRI. Jepkosgei herself ranked 108th. The conference championship was hosted by EKU at the The University Club at Arlington in Richmond, Kentucky.
"The course was not easy," Jepkosgei said after the meet. "I just kept working hard and tried to keep up with them."
Jepkosgei has finished in the top-five of every meet she's competed in this season. The Kenya-native has finished in the top-three of both conference championship meets she's ever competed in. She finished second in the 2025 WAC Cross Country Championship.
Not far behind Jepkosgei, Matro Jepkemboi wrapped up with a time of 17:54.6 that placed her sixth. Jepkemboi — a senior — has finished in the top-10 of every conference championship meet she's competed in.
"I'm excited," Jepkemboi said. "I've finished top-10 [in conference] the past four years and I'm happy about that."
Connie Ndiema finished little more than 10 seconds after Jepkemboi. Ndiema finished seventh overall with a time of 18:04.7.Â
While Ndiema competed in two track and field meets during her first year at UTA, her four cross country meets this season have been her first with the Mavericks. The Kitale, Kenya native has finished top three among Mavericks in all four team meets this season.
Lauren Baur and Emilia Mandl helped lock down second place for the Mavericks, both finishing in the top 25. Baur was the fourth Maverick across the finish line, placing 17th with a time of 18:52.1.
Mandl finished 21st after clocking a 19:02.7. 21st is a nine-spot improvement over her conference finish in the 2025 WAC Championship and her best conference finish overall.Â
Sophia Hamdani, Justina Lusby and Abigail Perez all finished within 45 seconds of each other to cap off the UTA lineup. Hamdani led the trio with a time of 19:49.6 and a 33rd place finish.
Lusby narrowly missed out on going sub-20:00, finishing in 37th with a time of 20:03.2. Perez finished the race off for UTA. The Garland native placed 48th with a time of 20:36.1.
Flipping to the men's 8k, Toby Eaton was the top finisher for the Mavericks third meet in a row. The Mansfield native clocked a 24:50.3 and finished ninth.
It's the second season in a row that Eaton has led the way for the men's team at the conference championship after finishing 15th at the 2025 WAC Championship. The junior has finished 15th or better in three of the Mavericks' four meets this season.
Eaton turned in the second-best finish among non-EKU runners at the race. Eastern Kentucky entered the meet ranked No. 17 nationally in the NCAA DI Men's Cross Country National Coaches Poll and Colonel runners claimed seven of the top eight finishes in the race. North Alabama's Brian Bett was the only non-EKU runner in front of Eaton, finishing seventh.
"We got some great advice from our coach not to go out too fast and race smart," Eaton said. "We were patient with our moves and used our downhills to our advantage. We stayed really strong mentally and physically. It was a solid overall outing. We're not leaving here with any regrets."
A crucial portion of the race saw Kebede Kerlin, Mateo Doherty and Angel Sanchez finish 14th,15th and 16th respectively. Kerlin finished with a time of 25:19.2 and Doherty crossed the line eight tenths of a second later. Sanchez finished five seconds after, clocking a 25:25.2
Lucas Whitt finished top five among Mavericks for the first time this season, placing 39th with a time of 26:43.3. The freshman's placement was the last to count towards UTA's team score. The Mavericks just edged out Central Arkansas for second with a total score of 85 while the Bears finished at 91.
Daniel Armstrong, Jameson Stewart and Leo LeGrand capped off the day for UTA. Armstrong used a new personal-best time of 27:09.7 to finish 44th. Stewart finished 2.1 seconds after Armstrong, placing 46th. LeGrand also finished inside of 28 minutes, placing 50th with a time of 27:34.2.
The women's second-place finish in conference as a team is its best since 2014 when the Maverick women won the Sun Belt Conference Championship. The Maverick men have not finished in second in conference since the 2017 Sun Belt Conference Championship.Â
"I think we met our pre-meet expectations," Head cross country coach John Sauerhage said. "That course was really challenging. We hoped we could pull off what we did today."
Following the meet, Jepkosgei, Jepkemboi and Ndiema were named to the All-UAC first team. Eaton and Kerlin were given All-UAC second team honors.
UTA's next stop will be the NCAA South Central Regionals. The meet is set for Nov. 13 in College Station.
-- #BuckEm –
FOLLOW ALONG
Follow the UTA track and field and cross-country teams on X (@UTAMavsTFXC), Instagram (@UTAMavsTFXC) and Facebook (/UTAMavsTFXC).Â
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UTA also had four runners finish in the top 10 individually. Eastern Kentucky earned the top spot as a team in both races.
Leading off the conference championships was the women's 5k. Dorcas Jepkosgei once again led the way for the Mavericks, finishing third individually with a time of 17:10.9. Â
The two runners the UTA sophomore finished behind — EKU's Brighter Jepchumba and Edna Chelulei — entered the meet ranked sixth and 17th respectively in the USTFCCCA's Division I Women's Cross Country Rating Index or XCRI. Jepkosgei herself ranked 108th. The conference championship was hosted by EKU at the The University Club at Arlington in Richmond, Kentucky.
"The course was not easy," Jepkosgei said after the meet. "I just kept working hard and tried to keep up with them."
Jepkosgei has finished in the top-five of every meet she's competed in this season. The Kenya-native has finished in the top-three of both conference championship meets she's ever competed in. She finished second in the 2025 WAC Cross Country Championship.
Not far behind Jepkosgei, Matro Jepkemboi wrapped up with a time of 17:54.6 that placed her sixth. Jepkemboi — a senior — has finished in the top-10 of every conference championship meet she's competed in.
"I'm excited," Jepkemboi said. "I've finished top-10 [in conference] the past four years and I'm happy about that."
Connie Ndiema finished little more than 10 seconds after Jepkemboi. Ndiema finished seventh overall with a time of 18:04.7.Â
While Ndiema competed in two track and field meets during her first year at UTA, her four cross country meets this season have been her first with the Mavericks. The Kitale, Kenya native has finished top three among Mavericks in all four team meets this season.
Lauren Baur and Emilia Mandl helped lock down second place for the Mavericks, both finishing in the top 25. Baur was the fourth Maverick across the finish line, placing 17th with a time of 18:52.1.
Mandl finished 21st after clocking a 19:02.7. 21st is a nine-spot improvement over her conference finish in the 2025 WAC Championship and her best conference finish overall.Â
Sophia Hamdani, Justina Lusby and Abigail Perez all finished within 45 seconds of each other to cap off the UTA lineup. Hamdani led the trio with a time of 19:49.6 and a 33rd place finish.
Lusby narrowly missed out on going sub-20:00, finishing in 37th with a time of 20:03.2. Perez finished the race off for UTA. The Garland native placed 48th with a time of 20:36.1.
Flipping to the men's 8k, Toby Eaton was the top finisher for the Mavericks third meet in a row. The Mansfield native clocked a 24:50.3 and finished ninth.
It's the second season in a row that Eaton has led the way for the men's team at the conference championship after finishing 15th at the 2025 WAC Championship. The junior has finished 15th or better in three of the Mavericks' four meets this season.
Eaton turned in the second-best finish among non-EKU runners at the race. Eastern Kentucky entered the meet ranked No. 17 nationally in the NCAA DI Men's Cross Country National Coaches Poll and Colonel runners claimed seven of the top eight finishes in the race. North Alabama's Brian Bett was the only non-EKU runner in front of Eaton, finishing seventh.
"We got some great advice from our coach not to go out too fast and race smart," Eaton said. "We were patient with our moves and used our downhills to our advantage. We stayed really strong mentally and physically. It was a solid overall outing. We're not leaving here with any regrets."
A crucial portion of the race saw Kebede Kerlin, Mateo Doherty and Angel Sanchez finish 14th,15th and 16th respectively. Kerlin finished with a time of 25:19.2 and Doherty crossed the line eight tenths of a second later. Sanchez finished five seconds after, clocking a 25:25.2
Lucas Whitt finished top five among Mavericks for the first time this season, placing 39th with a time of 26:43.3. The freshman's placement was the last to count towards UTA's team score. The Mavericks just edged out Central Arkansas for second with a total score of 85 while the Bears finished at 91.
Daniel Armstrong, Jameson Stewart and Leo LeGrand capped off the day for UTA. Armstrong used a new personal-best time of 27:09.7 to finish 44th. Stewart finished 2.1 seconds after Armstrong, placing 46th. LeGrand also finished inside of 28 minutes, placing 50th with a time of 27:34.2.
The women's second-place finish in conference as a team is its best since 2014 when the Maverick women won the Sun Belt Conference Championship. The Maverick men have not finished in second in conference since the 2017 Sun Belt Conference Championship.Â
"I think we met our pre-meet expectations," Head cross country coach John Sauerhage said. "That course was really challenging. We hoped we could pull off what we did today."
Following the meet, Jepkosgei, Jepkemboi and Ndiema were named to the All-UAC first team. Eaton and Kerlin were given All-UAC second team honors.
UTA's next stop will be the NCAA South Central Regionals. The meet is set for Nov. 13 in College Station.
-- #BuckEm –
Follow the UTA track and field and cross-country teams on X (@UTAMavsTFXC), Instagram (@UTAMavsTFXC) and Facebook (/UTAMavsTFXC).Â
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Players Mentioned
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