OREM, Utah — Utah Valley cross country opened the 2026 season on Friday at the UVU Invitational as Caren Kipsirat took second and both the men's and women's teams claimed runner-up finishes

Kipsirat — who was making her collegiate cross country debut — went stride for stride with reigning national runner-up Jane Hedengren of BYU over the first lap, but Hedengren was able to pull away over the final two loops. Kipsirat finished with a time of 15:41.42, over 45 seconds faster than eventual All-American Morgan Nokes' time on the same course last season.

"Caren ran really well from beginning to end," said head coach Scott Houle. "This was her first-ever cross country race, she's only ever been on a track. Following it up with Reagan [Doman in ninth], she got a great start. Sophia Biesigner was a really good third for us and we're really excited to see how she continues to develop. Having the competition we had with BYU and Utah here, it was fun to have some high-profile teams here."

Reagan Doman finished ninth in her first cross country race as a Wolverine and was the second UVU runner across the line at 16:27.32. Sophia Biesinger took 19th in her first race post-mission at 17:13.45, followed by freshman Rozlyn Stowe in 22nd at 17:26.66. Mazee Frentheway rounded out the team scoring in 24th at 17:28.67. As a team, Utah Valley took second with 54 points.

Over on the men's side, reigning All-Region honoree Sila Kiplagat kicked off his sophomore campaign with a fifth-place finish at 14:02.45. He was followed closely by Alex Hartshorn in sixth at 14:13.42. Trey Despain made it three Wolverines in the top 10, taking ninth at 14:21.96.

"The guys ran really solid, led by Sila," said Houle. "He's only going to continue to get better as he learns to run cross country, pretty proud of his effort there. Really excited with how our top five is, and with Skyler Roper and Jaron Hartshorn coming in as well. The boys are only going to get better and better. We're pretty deep, so we're excited about that."

Mark Boyle took 11th in his first race as a Wolverine, running 14:24.55. Cameron Jacobs capped off the team scoring placing 16th with a time of 14:30.58. 

Following a schedule change, Utah Valley will now host a second meet at Scera Park next Friday, Sept. 11. The meet will follow the same course and will begin at the same time, with the women's race at 10 a.m. MT and the men's following shortly after at 10:45. Live results will be posted at SportTrax.com.