ARLINGTON, Texas — Morgan Nokes won her fifth race of the season, claiming the 2025 WAC Cross Country individual championship on Friday at the Patterson Sports Center in Arlington.
With the win, Nokes set the team record for most race wins in a single season with five, surpassing the mark previously set by 2022 All-American Everlyn Kemboi.
After a tight first two kilometers, Nokes began to pull away midway through the race before building a sizable cushion down the home stretch. Like most of her race wins earlier this season, Nokes (19:27.5) finished well ahead of second place, coming in 36 seconds before the next-best runner, UTA's Dorcas Jepkosgei (20:03.9).
California Baptist took the team title with five of the top eight finishers, while Utah Valley took second. Paisley Taylor put up her best collegiate 6k time, finishing 12th (21:17.5), followed by Ari Trimble in 14th (21:20.2). Artana Nice (21:27.5) and Elisabeth Ferrell (21:28.6) finished 17th and 18th respectively. Taylor, Trimble, Nice, and Ferrell earned second team All-WAC honors for their placements.
The men's race was a tight one from start to finish, but the Lancers were able to establish a strong presence at the front of the pack. Kiplagat was able to make his way through the mass of Lancers to the front, but CBU's Valentin Soca was able to hold on for first place by 1.1 seconds. The Lancers took the team title with five of the top seven finishers.
Wyatt Mortenson took fourth place (23:55.5) to improve on his 18th place finish from a year ago. Jayden Fitzgarrald took 10th (24:13.4), with Porter Whitworth and Alex Hartshorn coming in 12th (24:25.2) and 13th (24.26.6) respectively to cap the team scoring. Samuel Nelson and Seth Smith took 18th and 20th to earn All-WAC honors. Kiplagat, Mortenson, and Fitzgarrald earned first team All-WAC honors, with Whitworth, Hartshorn, Nelson, and Smith landing on the second team.
Utah Valley will now have two weeks to prepare for the NCAA Mountain Regionals, set to be held at the Salt Lake Regional Athletic Complex on Nov. 14. The women will run first at 10:30 a.m. MT, followed by the men at 11:30.
