RENO, Nev. - The Nevada cross country teams are set to kick off a historic cross country season with the return of the men's team. The Bonanza Casino Nevada Twilight Classic on Aug. 30 will be the first time in 25 years that a men's team has run for Nevada.

After the only home meet of the season, the teams will head to Springfield, Ore. on Sept. 28 to face off against competitors including Oregon State, BYU and UCLA. The Nevada women took second place at the same meet last fall.Next, the women will attend the Pre-National Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind. where they earned a top 20 finish last season. The men will go to the Bronco Invitational in Sunnyvale, Calif. at the same time on Oct. 19.

The season pressure builds just a few weeks after at the Mountain West Championships on Nov. 1 in Logan, Utah where the women placed sixth last year and won the Silver State Series against UNLV. The conference championship will be followed by the NCAA Mountain Regional Championships on Nov. 15 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
To finish off a packed season, the Wolf Pack will return to Terre Haute, Ind. to attend the NCAA Championships.

Both teams are anticipated to do well this season with the official Mountain West rank prediction of sixth place for the women and eighth place for the men. The preseason favorites were selected on Aug. 22 and place the Nevada women above San José State, Fresno State and UNLV. Similarly, the Nevada, men who have not yet competed, are also ranked above Fresno State.

Head coach Kirk Elias, returns this season to continue his work with the women and usher in a new legacy with the men. During his time at Nevada so far, the school record for the 6,000m has been broken and multiple runners have broken the 10,000m record in the past season alone. With 15 seasons of experience as the assistant track coach for Nevada and 14 as the head cross country coach, Elias plans to spend the 2019 season continuing to break records.

Joining Coach Elias this season is assistant coach, Nevada alumni and All-American, Emkay Myers. After competing for the Wolf Pack from 2012-2017 and spending a season as a volunteer coach, Myers was officially hired on to help coach both the men and the women.

The team is anticipating a strong season with three women presenting as clear front runners on the team. Senior, Hiley Dobbs, who holds multiple scholar athlete awards and the school record in the 10,000m is expected to continue her momentum followed by Morgin Coonfield who previously held the 10,000m record.  Stefanie Ortega is also up and coming on the women's team having scored in each of the four races she ran last season.

On the new men's team, the stand out runners include Carson Leavitt and Adam Sjolund. Leavitt, a sophomore from Truckee, Calif. is joining the team with four Academic All-States, first team All-Region and second team All-State in cross country already under his belt and a personal record of 4:31 in the 1600m. Sjolund joins the team as a freshman with an All-State cross country title and holds multiple records at his high school in the 5000m, 1600m and distance medley relay.

To keep up with the Nevada women and men's cross country teams, visit NevadaWolfPack.com.