ARLINGTON, Texas — Tarleton State Cross Country begins its postseason races at the WAC Cross Country Championships at Harold Patterson Sports Complex on Friday morning.
 
The men will start the festivities with their 8K race starting at 9 a.m. The women will follow with their 6K race with the gun set to fire at 10 a.m. This will be the Texans second time racing at Harold Sports Complex this season, with the course set up a little differently than the Gerald Richey Invitational. The course will be a 2K lap, with the men running four laps and the women running three. Live results will be provided by Athletic.net, there will be no live stream for the races. For updates, highlights and the latest information, follow @tarletonxctrack on Instagram and X.
 
The Texan men enter the conference championships ranked 13^th in the South Central Region. The Purple and White only trail Abilene Christian (No. 10) in their region. The Texans are slated ahead of UT Arlington (No. 14) as well. The CBU men are the only nationally-ranked WAC men's squad entering at 17^th. The Lancers are also ranked third in the West Region. The only other regionally-ranked squad is Utah Valley who finished the regular season seventh in the Mountain Region.
 
On the women's side, California Baptist is the highest regionally-ranked squad entering the postseason sixth in the West. Two other women's teams are regionally ranked with Utah Valley ranked ninth in the Mountain Region and UT Arlington tenth in the South Central Region.
 
Earlier this week the WAC released the pre-championship polls. On the men's side, CBU was selected to win followed by Utah Valley and Southern Utah. CBU was also slated to win the women's side with Utah Valley and UT Arlington projected to finish second and third.
 
Last season, the Texans posted their best men's and women's team finishes at the WAC Championships in program history. The men finished fourth led by graduate Angel Gomez in 24^th overall. Jace Poole was the highest finishing returner crossing in 33^rd. Kaitlyn Gale paced the women with the best finish and fastest time at the WAC Championships by a Texan woman. Gale claimed 24^th place in 21:43.63.
 
The Texans will have two weeks of before the NCAA South Central Regional Championships on Nov. 14 at Agri Park Cross Country Course in Fayetteville, Ark. It will mark the Texans' second NCAA D1 South Central Regional appearance in program history.