OREM, Utah — Utah Valley University cross country coach
Scott Houle has released the team's 2023 schedule, which begins on Friday, Sept. 1 with the UVU Invitational at Scera Park in Orem.
The Wolverine women are coming off their best season in program history after earning a berth in the NCAA Championships and being ranked as high as No. 16 in the country, while also landing their first All-American in program history in
Everlyn Kemboi. This season, the women will see great turnover with five of the seven runners—including Kemboi—who competed at the NCAA Championships having exhausted their eligibility.
On the men's side, UVU returns two of its top three finishers from the WAC Championships in
Joel Mendez and
Austin Hone. Mendez is coming off an outdoor season that saw him just miss the NCAA Finals in the 3,000-meter steeplechase by the slimmest of margins.
The first month of the season will also take Utah Valley to UC Riverside (Sept. 16) and the Paul Short Run (Sept. 30) at Lehigh University for the second straight season.
In October, the Wolverines head to Cedar City for the SUU Color Country Invitational (Oct. 7). They'll then send split squads to Pre-Nationals in Charlottesville, Virginia (Oct. 13) and to the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational (Oct. 14). The final tune-up prior to the WAC Championships will be on Oct. 19 at the Utah Open, which will be held at Sunnyside Park in Salt Lake City. The WAC Championships will be hosted by Abilene Christian on Saturday, Oct. 28.
The NCAA Mountain Regionals will take place on Nov. 10 in Lubbock, Texas at Texas Tech University before the NCAA Championships on Nov. 18 at the University of Virginia.