For the first time in two decades, the Arizona men’s cross country team will be competing at the NCAA Championships.
The Wildcats men advanced to next week’s national championship meet by finishing in fifth place at the NCAA West Regional on Friday. The showing was enough for Arizona to earn an at-large berth.
Arizona last competed at NCAA Championships in 2006. The team took 21st place that year.
Evans Tanui led Arizona on Friday with a 6th place individual finish, running a 10K time of 29:13.4. Josphat
Meli took 19th with a time of 29:37.4, and Vincent Gwachi took 27th with a time of 29:50.6. Lawi Ngetich and Hanibal Haile rounded out Arizona’s five scorers.
Arizona finished in a tie with Portland with 141 points, but Portland won the tiebreaker by way of total time it took its athletes to cross the finish line. Oregon won the race, followed by Washington and Stanford.
On the women’s side, freshman Mercy Chepkemoi put together another standout performance, finishing runner-up in the 6K with a time of 18:59.o. By placing in the top four, Chepkemoi qualified for the NCAA Championships.
Praise Chepkemoi finished in 10th place with a time of 19:48.5, earning her All-Region Honors.
The Arizona women as a team finished in 11th place, their best showing at the West Regional since 2013.
The NCAA Championships will be held Nov. 21 in Terre Haute, Ind.
