The ACU men's cross country team, fresh off a strong showing at the Arturo Barrios Invitational in College Station, heads to Arlington to compete in the WAC's final XC Championship on Friday. The strong showing at the Barrios helped propel ACU to #10 in the South Central Region rankings – the highest spot ACU has ever appeared in the South Central rankings since the move to Division I, surpassing a #12 spot in 2020. The ACU men have been climbing steadily in the region rankings throughout the season.
The ACU men will be lead by sophomore
Andruw Villa, who placed 10
th in the WAC XC meet last season, garnering first-team All-Conference honors. Also returning to the championship this year is
Kevin Castruita, who was second-team All-WAC in 2023 before a redshirt year in 2024. Another Wildcat enjoying a breakout year is
Carlos Cortez, who has set personal bests this season at the 5K, 6K and 8K distances. Also running for the Wildcats will be
Mark Barajas,
Vincent Luffey, Benji Castro,
Mikhail Fortner,
Austin Roberts, and
Matthew Engle.
In the Pre-Championship Coaches Poll, the California Baptist men are tabbed to win the event. CBU is the only WAC team ranked nationally, as they are #17 in the nation and 3
rd in the West Region. Utah Valley is the pre-championship pick for 2
nd (ranked #7 in the Mountain Region) and Southern Utah is the pick for 3
rd. ACU is ranked #10 in the South Central Region, with Tarleton State (13
th in the region) and UT Arlington (14
th in the region) close behind. The fight for 3
rd place in the team race should be fierce.
The ACU women have been unable to break into the South Central Region rankings this year, but are coming off a very encouraging performance at the Arturo Barrios Invitational. In the pre-championship poll, 2024 runner-up CBU, which is ranked #6 in the West Region, is picked to win it all. Last year's champion Utah Valley (9
th in the Mountain Region) is picked in the runner-up spot this year. Host UTA, ranked #11 in the South Central Region, is picked 3
rd. ACU will be in the running for a top-5 finish.
The ACU women have been led the last two meets by grad transfer
Chloe McLellan, who has been running high personal bests all season. Last year's top ACU finisher,
Audrey Chitwood, coming off a medical redshirt spring, ran her best race of the season at the Barrios. Freshman
Saylor Stevenson has run as the #2 ACU finisher the past two weeks. Other runners representing the Purple and White this weekend will be
Hannah Kasper,
Madison Anderson,
Hadley Phillips,
Kate Williams, and
Alyssa Quinones.
The WAC Championship will be hosted by UTA at the Harold Patterson Sports Center in Arlington. The men's 8K race will start at 9 a.m. and the women's 6K race at 10 a.m. on Friday.
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