The offseason is here for most Arizona sports, the 2025-26 season in the books and the 2026-27 seasons still a few months away.
What better time than now to press pause and check the pulse of each Wildcat program?
Over the next few weeks we’ll take a look at each of the UA’s men’s and women’s athletic programs to see what shape they’re in, as well as the prospects for the near future. We’ll break down each team and evaluate how it has performed under the current coaching staff, comparing it to how it looked
beforehand, and assess how it fits into the Big 12 Conference.
Next up: cross country under Andrew Dubs
How it looked before
After longtime director Fred Harvey retired in May of 2025, Dubs was hired just a few weeks later to head both the cross country and the track and field programs. Bernard Lagat was the head coach before Dubs but was not retained once Dubs was hired.
The program had not been able to find post season success, which led to the change in leadership. In the 2024 season, the men’s team only had one first place finish, while the women did not have any first place finishes.
Dubs is still in his first season of track and field, but his first cross country season has already shown improvement.
Taking Stock 2026
The offseason provides a great opportunity to evaluate each of Arizona’s athletic programs under its current leadership. Check back each day for another sport breakdown.
Tuesday, June 16: Men’s and women’s track and field
Sunday, May 31: Football
Monday, June 1: Volleyball
Tuesday, June 2: Soccer
Wednesday, June 3: Triathlon
Thursday, June 4: Cross country
Friday, June 5: Men’s and women’s swimming
Saturday, June 6: Women’s basketball
Sunday, June 7: Men’s basketball
Monday, June 8: Gymnastics
Tuesday, June 9: Beach volleyball
Wednesday, June 10: Women’s golf
Thursday, June 11: Women’s tennis
Friday, June 12: Men’s tennis
Saturday, June 13: Baseball
Sunday, June 14: Softball
Monday, June 15: Men’s golf
Where things stand now
This season saw a bump in first place finishes for the men’s team, while the women’s team is still trying to earn its first. The program started the season at Northern Arizona where the men finished second and the women finished third.
The first win of the season came during the Dave Murray Invitational. It was the first time the men’s team had won the invitational since 2022.
The men earned a first place finish with an average time of 24:56 and the women finished second with an average time of 22:52. The freshman duo of Evans Tanui and Praise Chepkemboi both finished in second with respective times of 24:22.1 and 22:07.1.
A trip to UC Riverside brought the second first place finish for the men’s team. It was once again Tanui leading the pack with a time of 23:26.7. The women finished in fifth and Chepkemboi also led the Wildcats with a time of 20:33.5.
In their second ever Big 12 championships, both the men’s and women’s improved on the previous season’s results by one spot. The men finished in eighth place (out of 13), and the women finished second to last in 15.
Tanui shined in his first NCAA West Regional with a top-10 finish. Overall, the men’s team finished 24 but Tanui’s time of 29:32.3 put him as the ninth finisher in a field of 203.
That time helped Tanui qualify for the NCAA Championships where he would finish 44 in a field of 259 runners with a time of 29:10.3.
Life in the Big 12
In its second in the Big 12, Arizona has already shown signs of improvement. It may be minimal improvement but it is needed if the Wildcats want to be competitive in the Big 12.
Tanui’s 29th place finish was the highest finish for the men’s team with a time of 23:48.0. The men finished eighth out of 13 teams and were 20 points from the seventh place spot.
For the women’s team, it was near the bottom of the barrel with a second to last finish at 15, one spot ahead of rivals ASU. Chepkemboi led the Wildcats with a time of 21:37.2 and a 63 overall finish.
One big question
Can Arizona continue to improve and eventually find postseason success? The first step would be finding leaders for both teams, and Arizona has one for both. Tanui and Chepkemboi both led their teams in almost every race.
The added bonus, both are young and entering their sophomore years. Both have an opportunity to lay down the foundation for the future. Tanui will have to be the face of the program.
In just his first season, he became the first men’s runner to compete in the NCAA Championships in seven years. He was also one of just ten freshmen nationally to finish inside the top 50. The bar has been set by Tanui, it’s now up to the rest of the runners to meet and exceed that bar.
