THIS WEEK IN THE WAC ? Only four teams are in action this week. The San Jose State men and women’s teams will compete at the Gator Invitational in San Francisco. Boise State runs at the Eastern Oregon Invitational in La Grande, Ore., while the Fresno State teams will be at the San Francisco State Invitational. New Mexico State’s teams will compete at the Arizona State Invitational in Tempe, Ariz.
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK ? Boise State’s Forest Braden and Utah State’s Stacie Lifferth have been named the Western Athletic Conference men and women’s cross country Athletes of the Week, respectively.
Braden, a senior from Bonners Ferry, Idaho (Bonners Ferry), posted an eight-kilometer time of 23:52.45 at the 32nd Annual Charles Bowles Invitational, Saturday, at Bush’s Pasture Park. The victory marks his sixth-career individual title. The All-American has finished first or second in each of his three races this season.
Lifferth, a junior from Helena, Mont., (Utah), finished 40th in the 6K at the Bill Dellinger Invitational at the University of Oregon. She finished with a time of 21:49.90. This season, she finished eighth in the Weber State Duel and 11th at the Montana State Invitational. She has been USU’s top finisher once and second finisher twice this year.
Other men’s nominees included: Brandon Geis, Fresno State; Zach Schuler, Louisiana Tech; Chris West, New Mexico State and Vance Twitchell, Utah State.
Other women’s nominees included: Breanna Sande, Boise State; Zinzi Evans, Fresno State; Charlotte Schonbeck, Nevada and Ann Gagliardi, New Mexico State.
BRADEN WIN SIXTH CAREER RACE ?Boise State University seniors Forest Braden and Ty Axtman finished first and second, respectively, at the 32nd Annual Charles Bowles Invitational, Saturday, at Bush’s Pasture Park.
Braden posted an eight-kilometer time of 23-minutes, 52.45-seconds, to record his sixth-career individual title. The All-American has finished first or second in each of his three races this season.
Axtman, a first-team All-Western Athletic Conference selection in 2005, posted his third-consecutive top 15 finish and his second of the season in the top three, finishing second, 18.70 seconds behind Braden. The dup led the Bronco men to a sixth place team finish.
WAC CHAMPIONSHIP ? The 2006 WAC Cross Country Championship travels to Fresno, Calif. This year’s championships will be held on Saturday, Oct. 28 at Woodward Park. The Idaho women and Utah State men claimed the 2005 titles.
October 28, 2006
Woodward Park
Fresno, California
Host: Fresno State
Ticket Info: Admission is Free
NCAA REGIONALS ? The 2006 Cross Country Regionals will be held at nine sites throughout the country. They will all be held Saturday, Nov. 11. WAC teams will be represented in three locations. The West Region will be held in Portland, Ore. (Portland). The Mountain Region will be held in Albuquerque, N.M. (New Mexico), while Louisiana Tech will be the lone team in the South Central Regional (Baylor) in Waco, Texas.
November 11, 2006
Great Lakes Region - Bowling Green
Mid Atlantic Region - Bucknell
Midwest Region - Minnesota
Mountain Region - New Mexico
Northeast Region - Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (Bronx, N.Y.)
South Region - Tennessee
South Central Region - Baylor
Southeast Region - Louisville
West Region - Portland
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS ? The 2006 Cross Country National Championships once again travels to Terre Haute, Ind. and Wabash Valley Family Sports Center. Indiana State is the host for this year’s Championships.
November 20, 2006
Wabash Valley Family Sports Center
Terre Haute, Ind.
Host: Indiana State University
Ticket Info: 812/237-4040