AROUND THE WAC
BOISE STATE BRONCOS - Boise State University men’s cross country runner Cody Eaton took second place at the Bronco Invitational with a 24:51 on the 8,000-meter course at Baylands Park in Sunnyvale, Calif. Eaton’s two points help the Boise State men’s cross team take eighth place in the 17-team field while outpacing Western Athletic Conference teams San Jose State and New Mexico State. Hilary McClendon led the Boise State women’s cross country team for the first time in her collegiate career as she captured a 15th place finish with a 17:49 on 5,000-meter course. After recording a first or second place finish in its previous four races, the Boise State women’s cross country team finished ninth for its lowest place of the season.
FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS - Junior Roxanne Sellick had been sick for the past two days and wasn’t sure how well she would perform on Saturday at the Cal Poly Invitational. But the Fresno native came out strong and finished ninth overall with a time of 18:17 during the 5K race. Sellick led the team to a third place finish, but the Bulldogs were second among participating collegiate squads. Sellick ran a 19:31 last year on the Cal Poly course, improving her time by more than a minue. On the men’s side, freshman Erick Garcia was Fresno State’s top finisher again, leading the ?Dogs to a fifth place finish. He placed 18th with a time of 27:17 in his first 8K race at Cal Poly.
HAWAI?I RAINBOW WAHINE - In its final competition before the Western Athletic Conference Championships, the University of Hawai’i women’s cross country team competed in the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational, Saturday, at Baylands Regional Park. The Rainbow Wahine competed along with some 20 other collegiate programs and nearly 200 athletes. UH finished 14th in the Invitational section as senior Chantelle Wilder posted yet another strong showing. The London, Ontario native placed 12th overall and completed the 5K course in 17:45, just two seconds off of her personal best. As a team, UH scored 407 points.
IDAHO VANDALS - Idaho did not compete last week. The team’s next event will be the Western Athletic Conference championships on Oct. 27 in Logan, Utah.
LOUISIANA TECH BULLDOGS - Louisiana Tech’s men’s cross country team finished off the regular season with a second place finish; only three points out of first place at the Demon Invitational. Junior Jace Benoit led the way for the Bulldogs with a third place finish on the four-mile course with a time of 21 minutes, 10 seconds. On the women’s side, Louisiana Tech finished third with 81 points at the Centenary Invitational. Freshman Lauren Gilbert finished with her best time of the season with a time of 19 minutes, 45.84 seconds on the 2.85 kilometer course for the twelfth best time.
NEVADA WOLF PACK - The University of Nevada cross country team took fourth overall at the 5K Santa Clara Invitational. For the third consecutive meet, Nevada’s Christa Avena was the Pack’s top finisher. She came in 6th overall (17:40), out of 140 runners. Samantha Davis finished eighth overall (17:43) while Natalia Jarawka (17:46) finished 13th overall. Each of the Pack’s top three runners knocked at least 40 seconds off their 5K personal records. Avena took 53 seconds off her personal record, while Davis beat her personal best by 41 seconds. Jarawka knocked 79 seconds off her personal best.
NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES - The New Mexico State women’s cross country team placed 10th, while the men’s squad finished 17th at the Santa Clara Invitational. Senior Beth Sandoval (Sauk Rapids, Minn.) led the way for the Aggies, placing 34th with a time of 18:12 on the very fast and flat 5K course. Freshman standout Brandi Gutierrez (El Paso, Texas) was second for NMSU and 49th overall, stopping the clock at 18:24. For the fifth straight race, freshman Michael Hart (Santa Fe, N.M.) has consistently led the way for the Aggies, placing 90th overall with a time of 26:34 in the 8K race. Freshman Austin Brackeen (Chickasha, Okla.) was the second aggie across the line, placing 104th with a time of 26:56.
SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS - The San Jose State University men’s cross country team finished in 13th place at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational. The Spartans were led by Chris Hart’s 65th place finish. His time of 26:14.00 was his second-best career 8K time, finishing seven seconds behind his career mark he previously set at the Pepperdine Invitational earlier this season. The San Jose State University women’s cross country team finished in 11th in the 16-team Santa Clara Bronco Invitational. Arely Marquez led the Spartans with a time of 18:11.00. The freshmen from San Jose turned in the best 5K time by any SJSU runner in 2007. For the second consecutive race, Marquez has led the Spartans, after being the top SJSU finisher at the Notre Dame Invitational.
UTAH STATE AGGIES - Utah State Junior Seth Wold led the men’s cross country team to a 29th place finish out of 40 teams in the men’s 8k white race at the Pre-Nationals meet hosted by Indiana State. The women’s team finished 27th out of 38 teams in the women’s 6k blue race. Wold finished 53rd out of 273 runners with a time of 24:06. The women were led by senior Amy Egan who finished 91st out of 259 runners with a time of 21:37. 22:17.
WAC CHAMPIONSHIP ? The 2007 WAC Cross Country Championship travels to Logan, Utah. This year’s championships will be held Saturday, Oct. 27 at the American West Heritage Center. Host Utah State’s men and women swept the 2006 WAC Championship in Fresno, Calif.
October 27, 2007
Logan, Utah
Host: Utah State
American West Heritage Center
Admission: Free
NCAA REGIONALS ? The 2007 Cross Country Regionals will be held at nine sites throughout the country, Saturday, Nov. 10. WAC teams will be represented in three locations. The West Region will be held in Eugene, Ore. (University of Oregon). The Mountain Region will be held in Riverdale, Utah. (Weber State University), while Louisiana Tech will be the lone team in the South Central Regional (University of Arkansas) in Fayetteville, Ark.
November 10, 2007
Great Lakes Region - Indiana University
Mid Atlantic Region - Lehigh University
Midwest Region - Bradley University
Mountain Region - Weber State University
Northeast Region - Harvard University
South Region - University of Florida
South Central Region - University of Arkansas
Southeast Region - University of Louisville
West Region - University of Oregon
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS ? The 2007 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 19, 2007
Wabash Valley Family Sports Center
Terre Haute, Ind.
Host: Indiana State University
Ticket Info: 812/237-4040