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COMPLETE TEAM-BY-TEAM REGIONAL RECAPS
Utah State Men’ and Women’ Cross Country Finish In Top 10 At NCAA Regionals
OGDEN, Utah Senior Amy Egan finished 33rd to lead the Utah State women, while junior Seth Wold placed 39th on the men¹s side at the NCAA Mountain Regionals on Saturday. Overall, the Aggie women¹s team finished in eighth place against 17 other schools and the men¹s team took eighth place against
15 other schools.
"We went in ranked around eighth on the men's and 10th on the women's," said Utah State head coach Gregg Gensel. "Both teams finished eighth and so it's kind of bittersweet."
Amy Egan finished the 6K course with a time of 21:57.1, just 2:27.7 behind the winner, Sally Kipyego from Texas Tech University. Senior Stacie Dorius clocked in at 22:11.07 to take 40th place for the Aggies.
On the men¹s side, Seth Wold came in 39th place with a time of 31:53.8 in the men¹s 10K race just 2:01.7 behind the winner Lopez Lomong from Northern Arizona. Freshmen Nick Bolinder and Chio Lopez placed 46th and 50th, respectively for USU. Bolinder came in at 32:16.2, while Lopez clocked in at 32:29.3.
Colorado took first on the men¹s side with 47 points, while UTEP came in second with 56 points and Northern Arizona placed third with 84 points. Utah State took eighth with 253 points.
On the women¹s side, Colorado State captured first-place with 75 points, while Northern Arizona and BYU placed second and third, respectively with 81 and 90 points. The Aggies placed eighth with 260 points.
"I'm happy with the results and the did what they were supposed," Gensel said. "They ran their hearts out and I'm proud of them for the great season they had."
Nevada’s Women Place 10th at Mountain Regional
OGDEN, Utah - For the fourth consecutive meet this season Nevada's Christa Avena was the Pack's top finisher, coming in 34th at the 6K NCAA Mountain Region Championships Saturday afternoon in Ogden, Utah at the Schneiter's Riverside Golf Course.
Nevada's 10th place finish in the race marks just the second time in program history the team recorded a top-10 finish at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships. Nevada's top-10 finish was also the highest finish for Nevada at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships under third-year head coach Kirk Elias. The race was tight for the teams who finished in seventh to 10th place as the teams were separated by just 14 points.
Avena, who finished the race in 22:00, set a new personal record, knocking one second off her previous personal best. Before this race, she ran a 22:01 at the 6K Stanford Invitational on Sept. 29, 2007.
A pair of freshmen, Samantha Davis and Janet Martinez, was the Pack's next two finishers. Davis finished the race in 41st place (22:16) while Martinez ran a personal-best 22:19 and finished in 46th place. Martinez, who took 16 seconds off her PR, beat her old personal record of 22:35 set at the 6K Stanford Invitational on Sept. 29, 2007.
"We did not race the way we wanted to and were a bit off today," head coach Kirk Elias said. "But on the positive side we saw a number of personal records, especially by Janet Martinez who had a nice race."
Natalia Jarawka finished in 60th place for Nevada (22:40) while Amanda Gramly came in 87th (23:17). Chelsea Chauvet-Moore, running in her first collegiate 6K race, finished 102nd overall (23:49) while Tiffany Tandy came in 105th (24:10).
Texas Tech's Sally Kipyego came in first overall out of 118 runners, clocking a 19:29. She finished 14 seconds ahead of the second runner overall, Jenny Barringer of Colorado. As a team, Colorado State finished first overall followed by Northern Arizona, BYU, Colorado and Texas Tech.
San Jose State Men Place 24th at West Regional
Eugene, Oregon -- The San Jose State men’s cross country team concluded their season at the NCAA West Regionals on Saturday, November 10. The Spartans finished in 24th place in the 10K race that featured seven nationally ranked teams, including No. 1 Oregon.
Chris Hart led the Spartans with a time of 33:37.10. The senior finished beat his previous top 10K finish by over a minute, when he ran a time of 35:18.39 at the 2006 NCAA West Regionals. For the third consecutive race, Hart has led SJSU after being the top Spartan finisher at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational and the WAC Championships.
Sam Wambugu finished 150th in his final race of his career. The 2006 second-team All-WAC selection clocked in with a time of 34:20.55.
David Haefele crossed the finish line with a time of 34:37:65, beating his previous top-10K time by over a minute.
Sean Dundon (34:49.90) finished in 160th place, narrowly missing a career-best 10K time by 22 seconds. The junior from San Jose continues to be the workhorse for the SJSU men, running in every race for the past three seasons.
Luke Galvan (34:56.35) and Rigoberto Vasquez (35:31.60) both ran in their first collegiate 10K race. The freshmen finished 164th and 166th, respectively.
Top-ranked Oregon won the team competition, while Galen Rupp (Oregon) took the individual title with a time of 29:35.45.
Saturday’s race in Oregon concluded the SJSU men’s cross country season. The 2007 season featured a much improved team from previous seasons, highlighted by a third-place finish at the USF Invitational to start the season, as well as Chris Hart’s school record 8K time at the WAC Championship.
Of the 10 runners on the 2007 team, the Spartan men will only lose two next season, current seniors, Chris Hart and Sam Wambugu.
Boise State’s Men Place 17th at West Regional
EUGENE, Ore. ? The Boise State University men’s cross country team finished in 17th place at the NCAA West Regional in Eugene, Ore., with 508 points.
First Team All-Western Athletic Conference runner Cody Eaton led the Broncos as he collected a 61st place finish with a 31:46.25 on the 10,000-meter course.
Sawyer Bosch, First Team All-WAC, finished in 83rd place with a 32:24.50.
Rounding out the scoring for Boise State was Kevin Higgs in 100th place with a 32:42.10, Scott Foley in 125th with a 33:33.30 and Cameron Lockard in 139th with a 34:16.45.
On the women’s side, Breanna Sande was the top finisher, placing 76th with a time of 21:57.35. Chaly Jones placed 111th with a time of 22:32.10
Fresno State Men Finish 22nd, Women 21st at NCAA West Regional
FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno State men and women's cross country teams finished the season on Saturday at the NCAA West Regional Championships in Eugene, Ore. The men finished 22nd in the 10K race and the women took 21st in the 6K race.
The women's team was led by junior Roxanne Sellick who took 81st with at time of 22:01. She was followed by sophomore Marissa McPhail who finished 93rd while posting a time of 22:14.
"Roxanne ran really well and the team placed 21st out 31 teams in a very tough region," said head coach Joe Gonzales. "Overall it was a great learning experience for both teams."
Senior Meredith Hawkins finished 115th, clocking in at 22:35. Sophomore Jennifer Hernandez was fourth among Fresno State runners, finishing 125th with a time of 22:42 and junior Briana Cleary took 132nd with a time of 22:50.
Freshman Erick Garcia finished 91st overall with a time of 32:29 for the men's team. The time was 14 seconds faster than his mark at the San Diego Invitational, Fresno State's only other 10K race of the season.
Sophomore Franks Sanders took 108th with a time of 32:48, also a season-best in the 10K and more than a minute better than his mark at San Diego. Freshman Elijah Carillo placed 148th (34:17) followed by junior Mehdi Taieb-Brahim in 149th (34:19) and senior David Vartanian in 153rd (34:31).
Wilder Highest UH Regional Finisher In Five Years
EUGENE, Ore. - University of Hawai'i senior Chantelle Wilder placed 38th at the NCAA West Regional Championship, Saturday, at the Springfield Country Club. Wilder's finish is the highest for a UH athlete at the Regional Championships since Victoria Chang placed 12th in 2002.
Wilder's time of 21:24.89 on the 6k course was a lifetime best and her fastest and highest placement at a Regional Championship. As a team, the Rainbow Wahine placed 28th with 801 team points.
Stanford took the team title accumulating 33 points and had three athletes place in the Top 10 including individual champ Teresa McWalters (19:57.30).
The other UH athletes who competed were Jessi Locke (23:31.20, 168th), Briana Goodnight (25:45.35, 205th), Mallory Kurosumi (25:56.20, 207th), and Molly Fearn (28:15.45, 211th).
The meet concludes UH's cross country season. The Rainbow Wahine will next prepare for the indoor track and field season which begins in January.
Idaho Men Place 18th, Women 19th at West Regional
EUGENE, Ore. ? Saturday’s NCAA West Regional meet didn’t go as well as the Vandals had hoped, as the men came in 18th and the women came in 19th.
Two of Idaho’s top runners, Diego Moreno-Guzman and Dee Olson, were unable to finish the race. Both runners would have given a serious boost to the teams. Moreno-Guzman has been the top runner for the Vandal men all year, while Olson has been one of the top runners on the women’s team this season.
Sophomore Melissa McFaddan was the top overall finisher for Idaho. She finished 54th with a time of 21:40.2 on the women’s 6k course. Junior Allix Lee-Painter came in 63rd, true freshman Erica Digby finished 116th, senior Breanna Chipney finished 130th and Mandy Macalister finished 151st. Shawna Carlson was Idaho’s sixth finisher at 206th.
For the men, junior Kevin Friesen finished 71st to lead the men, while Matt Racine finished 100th, Bastien Tardy finished 110th, Kevin Merkling finished 122nd and Jeremiah Johnston came in 140th to round up Idaho’s scoring, and sophomore Tim Tate finished 161st as the team’s sixth runner.
The improvements kept coming for the Vandal women, as McFaddan jumped up 26 places from last year’s finish of 80th. Allix Lee-Painter was the 180th finisher a year ago, and improved her race by 117 places today.
Unfortunately for the Vandal runners, the cross country season is likely over, as the team needed a strong performance to receive more consideration for an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships.
New Mexico State’s Gutierrez Places 56th, Hart 99th at Mountain Regional
OGDEN, Utah- The New Mexico State cross country ended its 2007 cross country season at the NCAA Mountain Regional Championship, Saturday, Nov. 10, on the campus of Weber State University, in Ogden, Utah.
Leading the way for the women was freshman Brandi Gutierrez (El Paso, Texas), placing 56th overall in a time of 22:35.4 in the 6k race.
Freshman Michael Hart (Santa Fe, N.M.) led the way for the men on the 10K course, finishing 99th for the Aggie in a time of 35:05.7.
Assistant coach Paul Harkins said that the teams did not finish as well as they could have, but is satisfied with the experience the young harriers gained.
“This race showed us that we have our work cut out for us,” Harkins said. “We did fine, but we need to improve to get where we want to be as a program.”
The Aggies now shift gears to the indoor track and field season, as practice has been underway in preparation for the Dec. 1, Tune-Up Meet in El Paso, Texas, at UTEP.