United Athletic Conference

AROUND THE WAC....

BOISE STATE BRONCOS - Boise State did not compete this past week. The team will be back in action on Saturday, traveling to Sunnyvale, Calif., for the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational.

FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS - Freshman Erick Garcia was so close to another title. Garcia placed second, just two tenths of a second behind UCLA's Henry Hagenbuch at the Triton Classic in San Diego on Oct. 6. Gracia and the Bulldogs were third as a team during the 10K race that was held on the campus of UC San Diego. Junior Roxanne Sellick led the women's team, finishing fifth overall as the Bulldogs placed third in the 6K race. On the men's side, Garcia was the top-finisher for the fourth consecutive competition. Garcia clocked in with a time of 32:43.3 in the team's first 10K race of the season. Sophomore Frank Sanders was 14th with a time of 34:06 and sophomore Brandon Geis came in 22nd with a time of 34:35.

HAWAI'I RAINBOW WAHINE -Senior Chantelle Wilder made it a perfect 4-for-4 in local competition after capturing the Hawai`i Pacific Invitational  on Oct. 6. The senior won the 5K race at HPU's Windward campus in 18:51, nearly 30 seconds faster than her nearest competitor.  As a team, the Rainbow Wahine placed third, accumulating 57 points. Other UH participants who scored team points included Samantha Lotnick (20:24, 4th), Jessi Locke (21:00, 11th), Briana Goodnight (22:07, 20th), and Anna Schleuter (22:17, 21st).  Also competing were Mallory Kurosumi (22:28, 22nd), Molly Fearn (23:52, 26th), Kelli Murata (24:52, 28th), and Whitney Torigoe (25:28, 30th).

IDAHO VANDALS - Idaho took a break last week and will return to the course this Saturday. The Vandals will participate in the NCAA Pre-National meet in Terre Haute, Ind. Part of the team will also participate in the Eastern Washington Invitational the same day.

LOUISIANA TECH BULLDOGS - Juniors Cory Denstel and Jace Benoit finished second and third respectively at the 2007 Northwestern State Invitational to lead Tech to a second place finish overall. Denstel posted a time of 26 minutes, 54 seconds on the eight-kilometer course at the Demon Hills Golf Course while Benoit finished shortly behind at 26:59.52. The next highest finisher for Tech would be freshman Kyle Davis fifteenth overall at 28:16.63, while freshman Steven Cortez finished 28:48.95 for twenty-first place. Freshman David Monroe rounded out Tech finishers at twenty-fourth place with a time of 29:07.84.

NEVADA WOLF PACK - After a week off, Nevada returns to the course on Saturday in Sunnyvale, Calif. The team will participate in the Santa Clara Invitational at Baylands Regional Park.

NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES - For the fourth straight race, freshman Brandi Gutierrez led the way for the New Mexico State women’s cross country squad, placing ninth overall, while freshman Michael Hart was the first Aggie to cross the line for the men. The women’s squad posted an impressive third place finish and the men placed seventh, Friday, Oct. 5 at the University of Arizona Invitational in Tempe, Ariz. On the women’s side, the second Aggie to cross the line was senior talent Beth Sandoval (Sauk Rapids, Minn.), placing 13th overall with a time of 19:16 in the 5K race. In the men’s 8K race, Hart placed 32nd overall and recorded a time of 28:41.  Freshman Austin Brackeen (Chickasha, Okla.) was second for the Aggies and 43rd overall with a time of 27:21, while senior Josh Sifuentes (El Paso, Texas) was the fourth Aggie to cross the finish line in his debut race. The University of Arizona brought home the gold on the women’s side, accumulating 29 points, while UTEP placed second with 59 points and NMSU placed third with 70 points. On the men’s side, the University of Arizona claimed first with 36 points.  Arizona State accumulated 42 points, good enough for second place and third place was earned by Pepperdine with 110.

SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS - The San Jose State return to the course after taking last week off. The Spartans will take part in the Santa Clara Invitational Saturday in Sunnyvale, Calif.

UTAH STATE AGGIES  - Utah State returns to the course this week after taking last week off. The Aggies will participate in the NCAA Pre-National meet in Terre Haute, Indiana on Oct. 13.