OREM, Utah — The Utah Valley University men's and women's cross-country teams open the 2022 season on Thursday, Sept. 1 by hosting the UVU Invitational. The races will take place at Lakeside Park (400 S. 1850 W.) in Orem and will be a 5k for both the men and the women. The women's race begins at 2:30 p.m. MT with the men slated for a 3 p.m. start.
The Utah Valley women return nearly the entire roster from 2021's WAC Championship team and were ranked No. 27 in the first USTFCCCA Top 30 Poll of the season, which was released on Wednesday. It marks the first time in program history that the Wolverines have been ranked in the national poll. The team also came in at No. 7 in the Mountain Region.
Among the returners are seven of the eight All-WAC runners from last season's championships, including first-team members
Caila Odekirk,
Everlyn Kemboi,
Mazzie Melaney Preston (who won last year's UVU Invitational) and
Hannah Branch. All four were also NCAA Preliminary qualifiers in the outdoor 10k during the spring, with both Kemboi and Branch advancing to nationals and earning the program's first female outdoor All-American honors with Kemboi receiving second team distinction. Other All-WAC returners are
Zoe Hales,
Maggie Zwahlen and
Taylor Viertel, who were all on the second team. Zwahlen has earned All-WAC distinction three times in her career, including first-team honors in both 2019 and 2020.
"We were already deep with what we return. Hannah was coming off a broken foot last year during the fall so she's going to be right up there from the start with the rest of the returners," said UVU head coach
Scott Houle. "We also had a transfer from Utah Tech,
Madison Flippence, who will help us, and the rest of our recruiting class is the best we've ever had. We also have
Eliese Hohmann (Germany),
Emma Mahon (Australia), and some local runners in
Ari Trimble and
Kate Heywood as part of the signing class that really add to our depth."
On the men's side, the Wolverines return two of the four All-WAC first team runners in
Habtamu Cheney and
Max Mahon, who was also the WAC Freshman of the Year. Second team runner
Austin Hone also returns, and outdoor All-American (3,000-meter steeplechase)
Adam Bunker, who redshirted the 2021, will make his cross-country debut. The squad is ranked eighth in the first USTFCCCA Mountain Region poll.
"Both Habs and Max had excellent summers and are coming off great seasons last year. Adam is now a full year off his mission so he's ready to go. We also brought in a transfer from Montana,
Joel Mendez, who will be a factor for us. I think our men's team will also be improved from last year," Houle said.
Other schools also slated to compete on Thursday are BYU, Idaho State, Southern Utah, Salt Lake CC, Utah, and Westminster.
Following Thursday's races, the Wolverines will send runners to Idaho State Invitational on Friday, Sept. 23 and to Oklahoma State on Saturday, Sept. 24.
