Pac-12 cross country championships: Arizona teams finish at the bottom of the pack in their respective races

Kellen O’Halloran

October 31, 2023

Arizona sprinter Umajesty Williams runs down the track during on of their seasonal meets held at the Roy P. Drachman Track and Field Stadium. (Courtesy photo by Chris Hook/Arizona Athletics.)

In the Pac-12 cross country championships, the Arizona men’s and women’s teams faced fierce competition alongside other Pac-12 schools. Hosted by the University of Washington at Chambers Creek Regional Park in University Place, Washington, the Wildcats’ top finishers for the men’s team were Ian Sanchez Lopez and Sailor Hutton for the women’s teams.

In the men’s 8k race, junior Ian Sanchez Lopez and freshman Michael Urbanski led the way for the Wildcats, finishing 36th and 37th, respectively. Sanchez Lopez posted a time of 24:00.5, and Urbanski achieved a personal best of 24:00.9. Impressively, Urbanski lowered his previous 8k time by over 30 seconds, showing great promise for the future of this team. Noah Jodon was the team’s third runner with a time of 24:25.3, followed by Brennan Foody (24:28.1) and Cooper Quigley (24:41.0).

Additionally, freshmen Gibson Kibia and Andrew Gibby achieved improved personal records. Kibia trimmed over a minute off his PR with a time of 24:57.80, and Gibby improved his PR by more than 30 seconds, clocking in at 25:27.70.

On the women’s side, senior Hutton clocked a season-best time of 20:33.9, securing the top finish for the Arizona women’s team in 41st place. Hutton consistently led the team in all their competitions this year. She was followed by fellow senior Alisa Lyesina, running a time of 21:14.8. Freshman Sorcha Shiu was the team’s third runner, completing the race in 21:46.5, followed by Kelly Wetteland (22:03.1), a member of Arizona triathlon’s team, and senior Johnnie Mitchell (22:07.5). Wetteland, who also scored for the women’s team at the Dave Murray Invitational earlier in the season, continued to impress. Notably, this marked the third consecutive week that an Arizona triathlete competed and scored for the Wildcats.

In terms of results, the Arizona men’s team secured seventh place overall with a total team score of 195, while the Arizona women’s team finished 10th with a score of 296 in a race that featured six ranked women’s teams.

The Arizona cross country team continues play in the NCAA Western Regional Championships in Sacramento, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 10.

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