Mesa Community College is holding this weekend’s cross country meet for Arizona for the 2013 Mesa Thunderbird Cross Country Classic.

The race will begin Saturday at 7 a.m. The men’s team will begin the day with an 8K race, and the women’s team will follow with a 5K race starting at 7:45 a.m.

The women’s team includes freshmen McKenna Gaffney and Maria Larsson, sophomores Kayla Beattie and Molly Callahan, juniors Stephanie Bulder, Daylee Burr, Nicci Corbin, Clea Formaz, Kate Penney and Hanna Peterson and seniors Elvin Kibet, Erin Menefee and Amanda Russell.

For the men, freshmen Matthew Beer, Michael Cox, Jeff Gautreau, Collins Kibet, Travis Thorne and Brendan Tinoco, sophomores Dylan Hopper, Jonas Legernes and Sam Willis and juniors Kenji Bierig, Sam Macaluso, Braden Timpe and Thomas Valente will run for the UA.

The Wildcats’ last meet was Sept. 28 in Minnesota, where Kibet took first place overall in the 6K race with a time of 20:49 in her season debut. Corbin took fifth place overall with a time of 20:59. Third to finish for Arizona was Beattie with a time of 21:02 and sixth place overall. Larsson came in fourth for the women with a time of 21:06, good for eighth place overall.

The men’s race was the 8K, where Kibet came in first for the Wildcats and 24th place overall with a time of 24:55. Second to finish for the Wildcats was Macaluso, who was 26th winner overall, with a time of 24:56. Third for the Wildcats was Bierig (32nd overall) with a time of 25:02.

“Our … team is on the up and up,” said assistant coach Mo Huber. “We still have a lot of work to do but we’re excited about the direction the group is heading. We still feel we can make it to the NCAA Championships with this group.”

— Follow Makenzie Thiel @makenziethiel