The No. 16 Utah cross country team is set to compete at the NCAA Mountain Regionals on Friday, Nov. 13. The race is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. (MT) at the UNM North Golf Course in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as the women of Utah seek to qualify for the NCAA Championships for the ninth time in program history.
Utah will send nine runners to the regional meet: Marika Couture, Josie Fale, Tayla Gunton, Rebecca O'Keefe, Annastasia Peters, Bri Rinn, Mackenzie Rogers, Erin Vringer, and Millie Wilcox. Josie Fale is the only runner on the roster who has not previously competed in a regional race, though she served as an alternate in 2025.
Several athletes are making notable appearances at the regional level. Tayla Gunton, Annastasia Peters, and Erin Vringer will be competing in their fourth regional race. Mackenzie Rogers will be participating in her third regional roster, while Marika Couture, Rebecca O'Keefe, Bri Rinn, and Millie Wilcox will be making their second appearances at an NCAA Regional race.
The race features 18 teams vying for two automatic qualifying spots. Among the participants are top-ranked BYU, #6 Northern Arizona, #7 New Mexico, #9 Colorado, and #16 Utah. Other competing teams include Air Force, Colorado State, Montana State, Nevada, New Mexico State, Northern Colorado, Southern Utah, Texas Tech, Utah State, Utah Valley, UTEP, Weber State, and Wyoming.
Utah is looking to improve upon its performance from last year's NCAA Mountain Regionals, where the team finished fifth overall. The 2025 squad included top scorers Erin Vringer, Annastasia Peters, and Millie Wilcox, while Bri Rinn finished 44th overall.
The UNM North Golf Course has hosted the NCAA Mountain Regionals seven times since the turn of the century, though the 2020 bid was canceled due to COVID-19. Utah's highest finish at this venue was runner-up honors in 2022, achieved via a tiebreaker.
If the Utes do not secure an automatic berth by finishing in the top two, the team will await the results of Selection Sunday on Nov. 15.
