RENO, Nev. – Senior men's cross country members Adam Sjolund, Carson Leavitt, Andrew Ribeiro, and Alex Mendoza are set to make their season debut this Thursday at the Nevada Twilight Classic hosted by Washoe County's Rancho San Rafael Park at 4 p.m.
 
"The Nevada Twilight Classic has been our opening competition 12 of the last 15 years," head coach Kirk Elias said. "It is a wonderful community event which allows our athletes to perform in front of a hometown crowd."
 
The meet has annually been held every year but hasn't been hosted since 2019. The wildfires in the area last year and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 put a hold on the event.
 
This is Sjolund's fourth season as a member of the team, but Thursday will only be his second race in Reno.
 
"Racing in front of a home crowd isn't very common for our sport, so it'll make Twilight exciting," Sjolund said.
 
Sjolund began his career at Nevada in 2019 as a freshman and made an immediate impact to the team. He scored 46^th place at the Mountain West Championships, which was the best Wolf Pack performance on the men's side.
 
In 2021, he recorded a personal best time in the 8k at the Bronco Invitational, placing 15^th with a time of 24:08, which currently is the school record.
 
Carson Leavitt, a local native, began his career with the Pack in 2019 and made an immediate impact his freshman season. In his debut at the Nevada Twilight, he scored fifth overall and was the third fastest Wolf Pack athlete that competed in the 8k. He made an appearance at the NCAA Mountain Region Championship and was ranked 127 overall.
 
In fall of 2021, Leavitt saw a personal best time in the 8k at the Mountain West Championships, placing him in the top fifty in the event. His top finish his junior season was at the USF Invitational where he placed 28^th with a time of 25:40. At NCAA Regionals, he earned a personal best in the 10k, finishing in 32:17.
 
Another local native and fifth year, Alex Mendoza is finishing out his career with the Pack with an extra year of eligibility that was granted by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the course of his time, Mendoza has improved greatly, especially in the 8k. His sophomore season saw a ninety second drop from a 29:25.7 at the Capital Cross Challenge to a 27:43 at the Bronco Invitational later that season.
 
Continuing the drop his junior season, Mendoza saw a new personal best in the 8k at the 2021 Mountain West Championships with a time of 26:40.7. That full second drop drove his momentum into his senior season where again he saw a personal best in the 8k at the Bronco Invitational in a time of 24:54. His highest finish that season was at the USF Invitational in 38^th place with a time of 26:00, his third-best time with the Pack.
 
Coming out of high school his senior year, Andrew Ribeiro emerged as one of the top distance runners in the state of Nevada. Spanish Springs local, Ribeiro posted the best time in the state in the 5k with a 15:37. In 2021, Ribeiro competed at the Mountain West Championships for the first time since coming to Nevada due to the Covid pandemic. He finished in 58^th place in the 8k in a time of 26:12.3.
 
Ribeiro's junior year allowed him to shine early on in the season. At the Bronco Invitational in the fall of 2021, he earned a personal best in the 8k with a 24:19. This time not only earned him a 23^rd place finish but is the second fastest time in school history. Ribeiro finished in the top fifty at the Mountain West Championships in 47^th place with a time of 25:04. Finishing his season, he saw an appearance at the NCAA Regional meet placing 63^rd in a time of 31:48 in the 10k. This time is the fastest in school history.
 
This season, the men's roster has stayed consistent to last year but with the addition of four new faces. Jackson Hammons, Tyron Jardin, Cris Kubatko, and Danyom Yosief are set to debut at Nevada.
 
This is the added depth the squad hasn't seen the previous seasons and to Sjolund, the important improvements that have begun to take place for the overall success of the group.
 
"We have a lot of guys on this team who have been super consistent and putting in the work all summer, and I think it's going to translate to a major step up in our competitive level as a team," he said. "It's awesome to know that our success as a team isn't dependent upon any single person."
 
Individually, Sjolund's focus for this year is putting everything together on race day and for Thursday, keeping expectations for himself simple.
 
"I want to put myself in the best position I can to succeed and help this team when I toe the line," he said. "I want to stay focused and help my teammates during the race, and just give it the best effort I have on that day. We have a lot of potential to do big things as a team this year."
 
Elias is confident that the men and women have a chance to surprise the conference this season.
 
"This meet will kick off a season of the best men's team we will have had since the heyday of Nevada Cross Country in the sixties and seventies," Elias said. "I know the team is thinking of the championships in November!"
 
The home opener will be an opportunity to showcase the current team, but the newcomers of the team as well.
 
"Tierney Wolfgram, our first national participant in school history, will sit out the Twilight Classic with a small injury. Emily Clarke, Paige Penrose, and Marije Hijman all transferred in and have been lighting it up in practice," Elias said. "Combined with the vastly improved Clare Nelson, Maddy Shipman, Marena Middleton, and Alison Graf, the women have the chance to turn some heads this fall."
 
Nelson, Shipman, Middleton, and Graf all specialize in the 6k. Nelson competed in three meets last season, seeing a personal best of 23:11. Shipman competed in four meets last season, making an appearance at NCAA Regionals with a time of 23:58. Middleton earned the twenty-fourth fastest time in school history in the 6k in 21:56 at the Mountain West Championships in 2021. Graf ran in three meets during last season and saw her best time of 22:57 at the USF Invitational.
 
The transfer squad of Clarke, Penrose, and Hijman all come from successful backgrounds.
 
Clarke began her career at Scripps College (Claremont Mudd Scripps) where she finished 26^th at the NCAA Division III Championships. She earned All-America honors and helped CMS to a second place finish, the highest team finish in program history. Penrose, a native to Sydney, Australia trained with the Royal Australian Air Force. Born in the Netherlands, Hijman was the 2018 Dutch champion in the duathlon and in 2019, the Dutch champion in the 10k.
 
Reno Running Company and Eclipse Running are the meet's title sponsor and the Wolf Pack's sponsor for this upcoming year. Locally owned and operated since 2011, Matt and Aimee Balzer built the company dedicated to help Northern Nevada's active community and lifestyle.
 
More information can be found on their website here: https://www.renorunningcompany.com/
 
More meet information can be found here: https://nevadawolfpack.com/documents/2022/6/23/2022_Nevada_Twilight_Classic.pdf
 
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