SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Arizona Cross Country wrapped up its 2025 season at the NCAA West Regional on Friday, highlighted by a standout top-10 finish from freshman Evans Tanui, who placed ninth overall and put himself in strong position to qualify for next week's NCAA Championships. The Wildcats finished 12th as a team on the men's side and 24th on the women's side.

Tanui delivered the best race of his young Arizona career, clocking 29:32.3 on the 10K course and challenging for the regional title with 1K to go. His finish places him firmly in contention for an at-large individual berth to nationals, with qualifiers set to be announced Sunday. Behind him, Arizona showed strong pack running and grit despite five Wildcats racing a 10K for the first time. Lawi Ngetich placed 69th in 30:48.7, Bryson Nielsen was 74th in 30:57.4, Michael Urbanski finished 99th in 31:21.6 and Max Liao placed 123rd in 31:51.4, rounding out Arizona's scoring.

Head Coach Andrew Dubs praised the group's performance, saying, "Overall the men's team ran outstanding and I'm really proud of all of them. They ran smart and together and with a ton of grit. We had five guys run a 10K race for the first time ever, so you never know what to expect, but they were just awesome — all seven of them. Evans Tanui ran the absolute race of his life. He went for the win and was right there with 1K to go. He has shown huge development and I could not be more proud of him."

On the women's side, Arizona placed 24th with 715 points, led by Praise Chepkemoi, who delivered the top Wildcat finish of the day by placing 66th in 21:07.9. Kara Mickelson finished 184th in 22:38.5, Hailey Puklin was 221st in 23:20.5, and Eleanor Korten Kamp closed out Arizona's scoring in 24:20.0 to place 248th.

The Wildcats now await Sunday's announcement of NCAA individual qualifiers.