The Wildcat cross country team began its season with an intrasquad meet Saturday at its home course. The decision to do an intrasquad meet came after TCU canceled when a member of the team tested positive for COVID-19.

“I missed this so much,” Grace White, sophomore, said. “It is such a joy to be back with this team. They are truly like a family to me.”

White, along with Kevin Kipkosgei, junior,  took first place respectively in the women and men’s run. White, of Team Purple, ran a 4k time of 14:11.55. Junior Sarah Wagler came in second place with a time of 15:08.05, and senior Briahna Gerlach finished in third with a time of 15:20.42.

“We know things are going to be different this year,” Jarvis Jelen, head coach, said. “We are blessed to even have this opportunity to still compete.”

In the men’s race, Kipkosgei finished with a 6k run time of 18:51.72. Coming in second place, sophomore Denis Lagat finished with a time of 19:23.11, and junior Levi Chambers came in third with a time of 19:34.05. Overall, Team Black came out on top with a 33-23 victory.

“We have improved every day since last year,” Kipsogei said. “I think once we focus on training, we will be ready to compete.”

The Wildcats’ next meet will be on Sept 18. at 7 p.m. vs. Texas Tech, Baylor and UTEP at Elmer Gray Stadium.

“We”ll just be preparing for future competitions,” Jelen said. “We want to take advantage of race we have and be ready for every race we have.”