Friday, October 30
Richmond, Ky.
W: 8 a.m. (CT) | M: 8:45 a.m. (CT)
Abilene Christian
vs
UAC Cross Country Championships
10/30/2026 4:33:00 PM | Cross Country
RICHMOND, Ky. - The Abilene Christian cross country teams continued to see improvement, as the Wildcats competed in the United Athletic Conference Championships on Friday morning.
The ACU men and women each improved one spot over how they finished at last season's conference meet. On Friday, the men's team was 4th place as a team, one position better than its 5th place finish in the 2025 WAC championship. The Wildcat women's squad was 5th after taking 6th place at last year's WAC championship.
Mark Barajas led ACU and earned All-UAC 2nd Team honors for his 10th place finish in the men's 8K race with a time of 24:54.6. The next ACU finisher was Vincent Luffey, who worked his stay from 27th at the 1K split to a final finish of 19th in the time of 25:49.8. In a field of 68 runners, all of the scoring runners finished in the top 50% of the field, as Benjamin Castro finished in 21st in a time of 26:04.1; Matthew Engle in 28th in a time of 26:17.8; and Austin Roberts in 31st with a time of 26:27.3. Other ACU finishers were Evan Martin in 56th with a time of 28:03.6 and Maxim Power in 63rd with a time of 28.69.8.
The ACU women were led by Hannah Kasper, in 22nd place with a time of 19:05.5, over the challenging 5K course and Saylor Stevenson in 24th place with a time of 19:11.4 in a field of 73 competitors. The other ACU athletes scoring in the conference women's race were Anna Vyn (32nd in a time of 19:44.3), Emma Santoro (39th in a time of 20:15.6) and Sidney Windham as the final scorer in 50th in a time of 20:43.2). The other finishers for the ACU women were Madelyn McFadden (54th in 20:59.2); Alyssa Quinones (58th in 21:03.2) and Hanna Zweibel (60th in 21:08.2).Â
The prohibitive favorite teams reigned in both the men's and women's races. On the men's side, Eastern Kentucky won with a perfect score of 15 points, UT Arlington in 2nd with 85 points, Central Arkansas in 3rd with 91 points, and the Wildcats in 4th with 104 points.
The women's race was dominated by EKU with a near perfect total of 20 points and UTA in 2nd with 53 points. Central Arkansas with 87 points, Tarleton State with 110 points and ACU with 158 points completed the top 5 teams.
The next race for the Wildcats will be on Friday, Nov. 13 in College Station, as Texas A&M hosts the NCAA South Central Region meet.
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The ACU men and women each improved one spot over how they finished at last season's conference meet. On Friday, the men's team was 4th place as a team, one position better than its 5th place finish in the 2025 WAC championship. The Wildcat women's squad was 5th after taking 6th place at last year's WAC championship.
Mark Barajas led ACU and earned All-UAC 2nd Team honors for his 10th place finish in the men's 8K race with a time of 24:54.6. The next ACU finisher was Vincent Luffey, who worked his stay from 27th at the 1K split to a final finish of 19th in the time of 25:49.8. In a field of 68 runners, all of the scoring runners finished in the top 50% of the field, as Benjamin Castro finished in 21st in a time of 26:04.1; Matthew Engle in 28th in a time of 26:17.8; and Austin Roberts in 31st with a time of 26:27.3. Other ACU finishers were Evan Martin in 56th with a time of 28:03.6 and Maxim Power in 63rd with a time of 28.69.8.
The ACU women were led by Hannah Kasper, in 22nd place with a time of 19:05.5, over the challenging 5K course and Saylor Stevenson in 24th place with a time of 19:11.4 in a field of 73 competitors. The other ACU athletes scoring in the conference women's race were Anna Vyn (32nd in a time of 19:44.3), Emma Santoro (39th in a time of 20:15.6) and Sidney Windham as the final scorer in 50th in a time of 20:43.2). The other finishers for the ACU women were Madelyn McFadden (54th in 20:59.2); Alyssa Quinones (58th in 21:03.2) and Hanna Zweibel (60th in 21:08.2).Â
The prohibitive favorite teams reigned in both the men's and women's races. On the men's side, Eastern Kentucky won with a perfect score of 15 points, UT Arlington in 2nd with 85 points, Central Arkansas in 3rd with 91 points, and the Wildcats in 4th with 104 points.
The women's race was dominated by EKU with a near perfect total of 20 points and UTA in 2nd with 53 points. Central Arkansas with 87 points, Tarleton State with 110 points and ACU with 158 points completed the top 5 teams.
The next race for the Wildcats will be on Friday, Nov. 13 in College Station, as Texas A&M hosts the NCAA South Central Region meet.
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Players Mentioned
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
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