FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s Elizabeth Khatevi won the 2025 NCAA Cross Country South Central Regionals Friday morning, finishing with a 6K time of  19:33.6. 

Khatevi, back-to-back Southland Conference Cross Country Champion and Athlete of the Year, crossed the line nine seconds ahead of Arkansas’ Sydney Thorvaldson to claim the title. 

SFA’s Valetine Jemutai and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s Phylis Kibet both placed in the top-20, crossing the line in 14th and 16th, respectively. 

As a team, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women placed 6th while SFA was 7th. Both Southland teams finished ahead of Texas, Rice, TCU and Baylor. 

On the men’s side, SFA’s Paul Kiprotich qualified for the 2025 NCAA Cross Country National Meet with an eighth place 10K finish (29:45.10). Kiprotich finished second at the Southland Conference Championship meet in October. 

SFA men placed fourth, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi sixth and UIW ninth at the regional meet. 

The 2025 NCAA Cross Country Championship meet will be hosted by Missouri on November 22 in Columbia, Missouri, at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course. The women will race at 9:20 a.m. CT, with the men’s race starting at 10:10 a.m. CT.