Despite racing to a pair of top-12 finishes, the Bruins have crossed their final finish line of the season.

UCLA cross country wrapped up its 2026 campaign at the NCAA West Regional Friday morning at Arcade Creek Cross Country Course in Sacramento, with the women’s team posting a 12th-place finish in the 6K for the fourth year in a row and the men placing 10th in the 10K for the second year in a row.

The Bruin women recorded a total team time of 1:44:19 in a field of 37 competing sides and were paced individually for the second consecutive year at regionals by sophomore Evie Marheineke. The Santa Cruz local finished 41st with a career-best 6K time of 20:28.6.

“Earlier this season, we came away and beat some blue-chip programs at Nuttycombe (Wisconsin Invitational) like Michigan, Washington and Washington State,” said assistant coach Andrew Ferris. “That was a step in the right direction for us moving forward.”

Marheineke was followed on the leaderboard by senior Ailish Hawkins’ time of 20:40.9, sophomore Annie Ivarsson’s 20:56.4 and junior Olivia Foody’s 20:58.3. The trio of sub-21-minute finishers came in 53rd, 63rd and 65th place, respectively.

The women’s side tallied a total of 306 points, but it was once again Oregon that stood alone at the top. The Ducks took first in both the men’s and women’s races – repeating a feat they accomplished at the Big Ten Championships.

As for the Bruin men, their 10th place mark and team time of 2:31:29 was led by fifth-year Henry Coughlan and his 29:57.9 time that earned him a 35th place finish in the 10K. Coughlan was trailed by a pair of tight finishers in juniors Andreas Dybdahl and Jack Falkowski, who nearly crossed the finish line at the same time with 30:17.3 and 30:17.4 tallies, respectively.

“Our entire team has stepped up in experience this season,” said Falkowski. “A lot of the guys are more seasoned with racing against top opponents, and we all definitely have more of a professional attitude.”

Dybdahl and Falkowski took 48th and 49th, respectively, and were followed shortly behind by sophomore Yosef Berhan’s 30:24.5 that landed him in 51st place. In total, the Bruin men raked in 241 points as a team with three finishers in the top 50 and Berhan just outside that mark.

But while the season may have come to an end for the blue and gold, they are still satisfied with the process.

“We went to every meet with no expectations last year,” Falkowski said. “This year, we had some goals, but it was the same process. We ran against some key teams and kept the mindset that we belonged and were ready to compete with the best.”