FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi cross country team continues its run in the postseason this week, sending a group of athletes to compete at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships at the University of Arkansas on Friday.
The day will begin with the women's 6k at 9 a.m. CT, which will then be followed by the men's 10k at 10 a.m. The top two teams for each race will earn automatic bids to the NCAA Championship next week, and the top four finishers not on an automatic qualifying or at-large team will also secure auto-bids of their own.
The Islanders most recently competed at the Southland Conference Championships on October 31, where both the men's and women's squads took home second-place finishes in the team standings. On the individual side, sophomore
Elizabeth Khatevi took home the win for in the women's 6k by more than 30 seconds, becoming the first repeat individual champion in 13 years, and she was joined by five other student-athletes – Southland Conference Freshman of the Year
Phylis Kibet and sophomore
Alicia Finnis for the women and junior
Mathayo Bundotich and sophomore
Dominic Kiptum for the men – on the All-Southland Conference First Team. In addition to this, three others – freshman
Kye Lowth, senior
Ewan Wheelwright and junior
Faith Ramos – also earned spots on the All-Conference Second Team.
In Arkansas, Khatevi will compete at the South Central Regional for the first time, as she missed last year's race due to injury. She will have a chance to continue her perfect season to date, coming into Friday having won all five races that she has competed at so far in 2025. This spectacular performance has her earning attention on a national scale, with
FloTrack listing her at No. 20 in the nation in their most recent D1 women's individual rankings and the
USTFCCCA slotting her at No. 18 in their latest Cross Country Ratings Index (XCRI). She will not be alone in the upcoming race either, also competing alongside Kibet, Finnis, Ramos, freshman
Sharon Jemeli and sophomores
Neele Heyne and
Embla Hreimsdottir. The team as a unit enters competition ranked No. 9 in the South Central Region.
For the men, Kiptum will look to make it two consecutive years qualifying for the NCAA Championships, as he punched his ticket at last season's South Central Regional by finishing in eighth place overall with a time of 29:38.2. Bundotich and sophomore
Diego Canto join Kiptum as the other members of the Islanders that will compete at regionals for a second time, while Lowth, Wheelwright, freshman
Gary Custer and sophomores
Joseph Lopez,
Andrew Rivas and
Dillon Smith will make their debuts at the event. The team looks to be one of the top competitors on Friday, coming in ranked No. 6 in the South Central Region.
"There is an existing calmness to the team this week leading up to this race," Islanders head coach
Bryan Jackson said. "We have a handful of individuals who have a shot at extending their season into a National Championship. I am proud of how this team has competed all year and excited for what is to come tomorrow. I have never been more confident in a group of young men and women, and whatever happens, they are going to take a shot at it and leave it all on the course tomorrow."
The live results for the NCAA South Central Regional Championships will be available to follow along as they happen.
Meet 6 // A&M-Corpus Christi at NCAA South Central Regional Championships
Date: Friday, November 14
Times: 9:00 a.m. CT (women) // 10 a.m. CT (men)
Location: Agri Park // Fayetteville, Arkansas
Live Results
Socials:
@IslandersTFXC (IG) //
@IslandersTFXC (X)
#ShakasUp
