LIVINGSTON, Ala. - The University of West Alabama Men's and Women's Cross Country teams are set to compete in their third meet of the season on Saturday as the Tigers travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas for the Chile Pepper XC Festival.
The Men's squad will kick things off at 11:40 a.m. with their 8K race before the Women's team competes in the 5K race at 12:20 p.m.
Men's Cross Country
Gary Mata leads the Men's team into Fayetteville as the sophomore enters this weekend's 8K race after recording a time of 26:33.2 last weekend at the Firehawk Invitational. Mata's time placed him in seventh place in the race and fell 13 seconds long of a new personal best which he hit last year at the GSC Championships. Alongside, Mata will be
Jentzen Moore and
Jayson Lynch, who also finished with solid times last weekend.
Moore was the second UWA participant to cross the line at the Firehawk Invitational as the senior finished 19 seconds behind Mata with a time of 26:52. The senior's PR in the 8K is 26:25.9 which he will look to eclipse on Saturday. As for Lynch, he paced a time of 27:46.2 which placed him in 25th place last weekend. The junior added 57 seconds to his 8K time after recording a career-best 26:52 time at the UAH Festival Year Showcase nearly two years ago. Lynch continues to make strides in hopes of reaching that form again, and that quest continues on Saturday.
Wilbur Valencia-Nava,
Seth Lord, and
Dave Hubert will round out the Men's group. Valencia-Nava competed in his second collegiate race last weekend, finishing with a time of 28:59.5 in the 8K. For Lord, his PR in the event is a time of 26:25, but he fell way short of that mark last weekend, crossing the line in 28:10, while Hubert looks to build on a 30:45 time that he accumulated at the Firehawk Invitational.
Women's Team
A young West Alabama Women's Cross Country team is led by one of the eldest on the roster in senior
Jordan Conner. Conner enters this weekend's 5K race with the best time of any other athlete on the Tigers' squad as the senior crossed the finish line in 22:58.4 at the Montevallo Classic to begin the year.
Augusta Arnold and
Kayley Key will also be featured in the 5K race for UWA as the two finished with times of 21:04.5 and 24:11.3 at the Montevallo Classic two weekends ago. Arnold's time of 21:04.5 is a new personal best, while Key looks to cut down on her time this weekend.
Laurel Morse and
Autumn Sansing are two true freshmen who have already brought solid depth to the program. In their first collegiate race at the Montevallo Classic, Morse finished with a 23:00.3 time, while Sansing crossed the finish line in 23:36.1. The freshmen duo is now set to enter their third collegiate race and their second 5K race on Saturday afternoon.
Men's Cross Country will begin their 8K event at 11:40 a.m. while the Women's 5K race is set for 12:20 p.m. in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
