LAKE CHARLES, La. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi cross country team looks to capture the ultimate prize on Friday, going for gold at the 2026 Southland Conference Championships in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
The championship meet will be hosted by McNeese at the Enos Derbonne Sports Complex. The day will begin with the women's 6K at 8:30 a.m. CT, which will then be followed by the men's 8K at 9:30 a.m. CT.
The Islanders will be trying to climb back to the top of the mountain in the conference, with the women looking for their first team title since 2021 and their seventh overall and the men seeking their second championship after winning their first back in 2023 in head coach
Bryan Jackson's first year at the helm. Both teams are considered among the top contenders on Friday, as the men came in at No. 8 and the women at No. 9 in the NCAA South Central Region in the USTFCCCA's most recent rankings back on October 19. They were also both ranked second in the SLC preseason poll, behind only Stephen F. Austin as their main competition on both sides.
A&M-Corpus Christi's quest for glory will be aided by its two standout performers in junior
Elizabeth Khatevi for the women and senior
Mathayo Bundotich for the men, both of whom have posted the top individual time in the conference in their respective races so far this year. The two Kenyans are no strangers to the top prize at the conference championships, with Khatevi looking to become just the third woman to ever win three consecutive individual titles and the first since McNeese's Sita Waru all the way back in 1999 to 2001, and Bundotich trying to become the second runner in conference history to ever win non-consecutive SLC titles after he previously emerged victorious during his freshman campaign in 2023.
Beyond these two, the Islanders have a pair of athletes on both sides that rank in the conference's top 10 performers so far this year that will try to help the overall team score. On the women's side,
Phylis Kibet ranks seventh in the SLC with a best 6K time of 20:34.1, and
Caroline Yegon comes in right behind in ninth with a mark of 20:47.5. As for the men,
Diego Canto posted a personal-best 8K time of 23:48.6 that ranks third in the conference to date, while
Brendan DiStefano comes in at seventh at 24:03.6.
"Both teams are entering this year's championship phase of the season in high spirits and coming off a few great cycles of training," Jackson said. "I am excited for the opportunity to compete for two more championships. Both teams are ready and very confident in the shot we are going to take at this thing."
The SLC Championships will be streamed live on ESPN+. The live results will also be available to follow along as they happen.
Meet 4 // A&M-Corpus Christi at Southland Conference Championships
Date: Friday, October 30
Times: 8:30 a.m. CT (women) // 9:30 a.m. CT (men)
Location: Enos Derbonne Sports Complex // Lake Charles, Louisiana
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