FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) women's and men's cross country teams are taking their momentum to Fayetteville, Arkansas to compete in the first round of the NCAA Championships Friday at the NCAA South Central Regional. 
 
The women's team will run a 6K race at 9 a.m. and the men will run a 10K race at 10 a.m. at Agri Park. The course winds through agricultural fields and small groves of trees before hitting some hills and turning into a straight run-in to the finish. 
 
UTRGV will be competing against 31 teams in the women's race and 32 in the men's including eight Southland Conference (SLC) opponents (nine in the men's race as New Orleans is only sending its men's team). The Vaqueros had a solid outing at the SLC Championships two weeks ago, with the women taking third and placing three on the All-Conference Team and the men finishing fifth.
 
The Vaqueros women head to the meet ranked 15^th in the South Central region. UTRGV has held steady at No. 15 since its strong showing at the Arturo Barrios Invitational one month ago. Junior N Vanee Anchike, senior PSJA High alum Faith Cruz and junior Kailey Salazar have been leading the women's team to its best season in recent years. Anchike was named the SLC Women's Newcomer of the Year while joining Cruz and Salazar on the All-Conference team as all three earned top 15 finishes. 
 
Pacing the men's success has been sophomore Nirmit Dahiya and senior Abraham Morales. The men will have an additional challenge of seeing their race distance increase to 10K on Friday, but their training has all led to this moment. 
 
The top two teams at each regional meet earn automatic qualification to the NCAA Championships which will be held Nov. 22 in Columbia, Missouri. The top four individuals not on an advancing team also qualify for the national championship race. 
 
Three teams competing in the women's field are ranked or receiving votes in the USTFCCCA standings, including No. 26 LSU, No. 27 Tulane and (RV) Texas A&M. The men's race will feature two teams ranked by the USTFCCCA in No. 23 Tulane and No. 24 Arkansas. 

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