Utah Valley Women Win Their First Big West Cross Country Title, Ending Cal Poly's Run

Utah Valley won the women's team title at the 2026 Big West Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Oct. 31, at UC Riverside's Ag/Ops Course in Riverside, Calif. It was UVU's first Big West meet, and its women scored 44 points with all five scorers in the top 13.

California Baptist was second with 63 points and Cal Poly third with 77, per the Big West. Cal Poly had won both the men's and women's Big West titles in each of the previous four years, UVU's preview noted. UVU's release called the win the women's third conference championship in the past four seasons.

Kipsirat led at 4 kilometers

UVU's Caren Kipsirat led the women's 6K at the 2-kilometer and 4-kilometer splits, UVU reported. Cal Poly's Tatiana Cornejo caught her in the home stretch and won in 18:55.4, a meet and course record, per the Big West. Kipsirat was second in 18:58.3, about three seconds back.

The rest of UVU's scoring five, with the Big West's times:

• Caren Kipsirat, 2nd, 18:58.3
• Reagan Doman, 6th, 19:57.6
• Mazee Frentheway, 11th, 20:20.2
• Isabel Anglero, 12th, 20:22.1
• Sophia Biesinger, 13th, 20:42.6

Kipsirat and Doman earned All-Big West honors for finishing in the top 10. The rest of the women's top 10, per the Big West:

• 3. Fatima Mena, California Baptist, 19:44.0
• 4. Elle Marsyla, UC San Diego, 19:46.4
• 5. Helena Mees, California Baptist, 19:51.5
• 7. Kaia Schmidt, UC Irvine, 20:02.8
• 8. Emma Hadley, UC Irvine, 20:07.8
• 9. Addie Oversmith, UC Santa Barbara, 20:17.2
• 10. Karolina Bliujute, California Baptist, 20:17.9

UVU's third, fourth and fifth runners finished 11th, 12th and 13th. Cal Baptist had three women in the top 10 and finished 19 points behind.

How the women got here

UVU entered the meet ranked seventh in the Mountain Region, its preview said, and named Kipsirat and Doman as its contenders. At the Under Armour Pre-National Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind., on Oct. 16, run at the site of this year's NCAA Championship, UVU's women placed 19th. Kipsirat was 25th in 19:59.7 and Doman 45th in 20:18.6, and the team finished ahead of California Baptist, Illinois, Arizona, Pittsburgh and Kansas, UVU reported.

Two weeks earlier, at SUU's Color Country Invitational in Cedar City on Oct. 3, Doman won the women's 5K in 17:46.84, her first collegiate win, with Biesinger second. UVU's women won that meet for a sixth straight year, per UVU.

The men finished second

The UVU men nearly made it a sweep. California Baptist won the men's title with 28 points and Utah Valley was second with 33, ahead of Cal Poly at 91, per the Big West. Cal Baptist's Pedro Marin won the 8K in a meet-record 23:07.8.

UVU had four men in the top seven, all of them All-Big West:

• Sila Kiplagat, 3rd, 23:17.2
• Trey Despain, 5th, 23:34.4
• Mark Boyle, 6th, 23:35.0
• Alex Hartshorn, 7th, 23:41.1
• Cameron Jacobs, 12th

Cal Baptist's other scorers went second, fourth, 10th and 11th: Yemane Mulugeta, Itumeleng Ngxabazi in 23:24.2, Nicolai Martino in 23:44.4 and Gabriel Guzman. UC Irvine's Juan Chantaca (8th, 23:41.9) and UC Riverside's Eshaan Hussain (9th, 23:42.1) completed the men's top 10.

Boyle led at 2 kilometers before dropping to fifth at halfway, UVU reported. Kiplagat moved from sixth at 2K to fourth at halfway, then broke up the Cal Baptist trio at the front to take third. He was second at last year's WAC Championships, per UVU's preview, and UVU reported on Oct. 6 that the men were No. 20 in the USTFCCCA National Coaches Poll. They had been 10th in the Mountain Region the week before the meet, and UVU's preview said the men were chasing their first conference title since 2019.

The men had their own build-up. Boyle won the 7K at the Color Country Invitational on Oct. 3 in 22:10.32, his first collegiate win, with Jacobs second and Despain third, as UVU's men won that meet for a third straight year. At Pre-Nationals two weeks later they placed 25th, with Kiplagat 55th in 24:01.3, finishing ahead of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Clemson, per UVU.

Next: NCAA Mountain Regional

Both UVU teams race at the NCAA Mountain Regional in Albuquerque, N.M., on Friday, Nov. 13, the women at 11 a.m. MT and the men at noon, per UVU. The NCAA Championships follow on Nov. 21. UVU's move to the conference is covered in Utah Valley's Big West move. On the same day, UVU's women's soccer and men's soccer teams both won Big West regular-season titles.

Key facts:

• Title: 2026 Big West women's cross country team champion, the UVU women's first Big West cross country title, in their first season in the league
• Meet: Big West Cross Country Championships, Oct. 31, 2026, UC Riverside Ag/Ops Course, Riverside, Calif.
• Team scores (women): Utah Valley 44, California Baptist 63, Cal Poly 77
• UVU leader: Caren Kipsirat, 2nd in 18:58.3, led at 2K and 4K
• UVU men: 2nd with 33 points to Cal Baptist's 28; Sila Kiplagat 3rd in 23:17.2
• All-Big West (UVU): Kipsirat, Reagan Doman, Kiplagat, Trey Despain, Mark Boyle, Alex Hartshorn
• Next: NCAA Mountain Regional, Nov. 13, Albuquerque, N.M.