LAKE CHARLES, La. -- Confidence is high for the University of the Incarnate Word men's and women's cross country programs as the postseason approaches.

The Cardinals will be up against a very competitive field on Friday when they take part in the Southland Conference Championships, which will be held at Enos Derbonne Sports Complex in Lake Charles, La.

The men's team won conference titles in both 2022 and 2024 and will look to continue its every-other season championship run. The women's squad, which made a jump from fifth in 2024 to fourth in 2025, also appears to be in good position for further improvement after a solid regular season.

The women's race will begin at 8:30 a.m. with the men running an hour later.

WOMEN'S PREVIEW

Defending conference champion Stephen F. Austin is a heavy favorite to repeat, as it enters as the No. 4 ranked team in the South Central Region. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and UTRGV are in those rankings as well, coming in at No. 9 and 15 respectively. 

The top-two finishers at last year's SLC Championships, Elizabeth Khatevi of TAMU-CC and Valentine Jemutai of SFA, have the-top two individual times of 2026. Khatevi ran a 19:03.6 at the Gans Creek Classic hosted by the University of Missouri, while Jemutai ran a 19:46 at Texas A&M's Arturo Barrios Invitational. 

The Lumberjacks have three of the top-four individual times in the SLC this season.

UIW was one of eight teams from the Southland to run at the Arturo Barrios Invitational, placing fifth in the conference and 29th overall with a score of 760 and an average time of 21:34.58.

The Cardinals also had success running a the Enos Derbonne Complex, taking second at the McNeese Cowboy Stampede on Sept. 26, a race that saw Sofia Cantor place third in a time of 17:10.8.

MEN'S PREVIEW

Incarnate Word, which finished third behind Stephen F. Austin and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at the 2025 SLC Championships, is one of four SLC teams in the South Central Region top-10.

SFA is currently No. 3, UIW is No. 6, TAMU-CC is No. 8 and McNeese is No. 9.

As was the case on the women's side, the Arturo Barrios Invitational proved to be a bit of a conference preview. Of the seven teams that competed, UIW led the way with an eighth-place overall finish and an average time of 24:09.18.

Eight of the conference's top times this season were at the race, with UIW's Christian Castro-Cruz running the second-fastest at 23:47.8. He came in one second behind Mathayo Bundotich of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, who finished fourth at the SLC championship race last season.

Ethan Malesich (24:09.4) and Jeremiah Garcia (24:11.3) also cracked the conference top-10 at A&M, running the eighth and ninth fastest times. 

Castro-Cruz and Malesich finished first and third respectively at the Cowboy Stampede at Derbonne on Sept. 26, with the Cardinals placing second as team with 34 points, four behind victorious McNeese.

FOLLOW ALONG

The race can be streamed on ESPN-Plus. Live results can be found by clicking here.