OREM, UTAH - The Utah Valley University men's and women's cross country teams will head to Kansas City to participate in the 2019 WAC Cross Country Championship this Saturday, Nov. 2 at Swope Park.
 
The annual conference championship meet will begin with the men's 8K competition at 10 a.m. CT/9 a.m. MT and conclude with the women's 6K race which starts at 11 a.m. CT/10 a.m. MT. Live coverage and results from the races can be found at WACSports.com on day of the meet.
 
Recently the UVU men were picked to win this weekend's WAC Championship, according to the Western Athletic Conference men's and women's cross country pre-championship coaches polls. The women's squad was projected to take second place, which is where both teams placed at last year's WAC Championship.
 
"I know our men are favored to win and our women are selected to place second but they have to go out there and race. There's multiple teams that have a shot to win on both sides," said head UVU coach Scott Houle.
 
The Wolverine men will look to defend their WAC title on Saturday after receiving a total of 47 points and five first-place votes to finish just ahead of California Baptist. CBU was picked to finish second with 45 points and the other three first-place votes. UT Rio Grande Valley was tabbed third with 30 points, while Grand Canyon and NM state tied for fourth with 27 points, Seattle U was selected sixth (21), Kansas City seventh (20) and Chicago State eighth (7).
 
On the women's side, California Baptist is the favorite to repeat as conference champs with the Lancers earning six first-place votes and 61 points overall. UVU was picked second with 59 points and the remaining three first-place votes. GCU is third with 46 points, followed by NM State in fourth at 40 points. Host Kansas City is picked fifth with 32 points, followed by UTRGV (30), SU (27), CSUB (21) and CSU (8).
 
"We are excited to be on a new course we've never been on and have another opportunity to represent Utah Valley University at a WAC Championship," added Houle. "This conference has become extremely deep and competitive during my time here at UVU. We are ready to go. We're healthy and the runners have prepared well. It's just a matter of going out there, putting it on the line, having fun and being a little bit aggressive."
 
The reigning WAC Athlete of the Year, senior Kevin Lynch, won last year's WAC Championship with a blazing time of 24:02.10, helping the men's cross country team take first overall with 30 points. This season Lynch was named WAC Athlete of the Week twice after posting a top 8K time at the UC Riverside Invitational and winning the Santa Clara Bronco Invite with a time of 23:42.3.
 
On the women's side, senior Savannah Neuberger looks at returning to this year's WAC XC Championship to help lead the Wolverine women to a championship win. Last season Neuberger was UVU's second finisher by posting a top-10 finish overall. She came in behind then sophomore Hannah Branch who posted a top finish for UVU but is redshirting the 2019 season.
 
The Utah Valley men have won four of the possible six WAC Championships since joining the league prior to the 2013 season, while the women's squad has won two WAC titles during the six-year span. 
 
Following Saturday's WAC Championship, UVU will head to Salt Lake City to compete at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships on Friday, Nov. 15 at Rose Park Golf Course.