Five men's teams and seven women's teams are in competition this weekend. On Friday, part of San Jose State's squad will compete at the Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind. On Saturday, Boise State, Hawai?i and Idaho travel to Salem, Ore. for the Willamette Invitational, while Fresno State, Nevada and the rest of the San Jose State team meet at the Stanford Invitational in Stanford, Calif. Utah State makes the trek to Springfield, Ore. to run at the Oregon Invitational.
TEAM NOTES
BOISE STATE BRONCOS - Boise State women’s cross country team captured the team title, on Sept. 22, at the 2007 Bob Firman Invite at Eagle Island State Park as it placed five runners among the top 20 finishers. Leading the way for the Bronco women was Breanna Sande who earned her third top five finish in as many races with a 18:16.60 on the 5,000-meter course. The men’s team captured a second place finish, as senior Cody Eaton paced the way with a 25:34.16 on the 8,000-meter course to earn the fourth place individual finish. This is the second top five finish for Eaton in three races this season. Boise State men’s and women’s cross country teams will continue its season Sept. 29, at the Williamette Invitational in Salem, Ore.
FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS - Freshman Erick Garcia won the men’s 8k race at the Pepperdine Invitational to pace the Broncos to fourth place out of 10 teams. Garcia finished with a time of 24:25, beating UCLA’s Evan Watchempino by one second for the title. The women’s team placed seventh, led by its one-two punch of sophomore Marissa McPhail and junior Roxanne Sellick. McPhail, coming off her Hornet Jamboree title last week, placed 14th overall with a time of 21:12. McPhail’s performance on Saturday now ranks No. 1 all-time in Fresno State’s 6K top-25 marks. Sellick placed 17th with a time of 21:12. Both teams will be back in action in two weeks at the UC San Diego Invitational.
HAWAI?I RAINBOW WAHINE - Hawai’i senior Chantelle Wilder captured her seventh career title and third this season at the Big Wave Invitational on Sept. 22. Wilder finished the 4k course in a time of 14:34, beating BYU’s Cecily Lemmon by five seconds for the title. The Rainbow Wahine posted their third-straight third place finish at last weekend’s iInvitational. Hawai?i’s women’s cross country team will participate in its first mainland competition of the season when it competes in the Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational Saturday, Sept. 29 at Bush Park in Salem, Ore.
IDAHO VANDALS - Idaho did not compete this weekend in cross country. After sending incomplete teams to the first two meets of the year, the team hopes to be back at full strength when they travel to Salem, Ore., for the Willamette Invitational. 2005 WAC women’s champion Dee Olson looks to return for her first meet of the year to defend her Willamette Invitational titles?she has won the last two. 2006 first team all-WAC runner Kevin Friesen also looks to get in on his first action of the season.
LOUISIANA TECH BULLDOGS - The Bulldog men’s cross country team finished 4-0 at the UL-Monroe Warhawk Invitational at Chenault Park Golf Club on Sept. 22 in an eight-kilometer cross country race. Tech junior Jace Benoit took the first place finished overall with a time of 27:06, while junior Cory Denstel finished third at 27:26. On the women’s side, freshman Lauren Gilbert finished highest for the Lady Techsters with a time of 21:55 and 13th place. As a team, the Lady Techsters went 0-4 on the weekend.
NEVADA WOLF PACK - Nevada travels to Palo Alto, Calif. on Sept. 26 to compete in the Stanford Invitational. Nevada recorded its first team win of 2007 on Sept. 15, claiming first at the Sacramento State Hornet Jamboree at Granite Regional Park, marking the first team win since Oct. 15, 2005. The Wolf Pack were led by Christa Aventa, clocking a 5k time of 18:33, a personal best by 69 seconds. Four other Pack runners also finished in the top 10.
NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES - New Mexico State women’s cross country squad ran away with their second consecutive Kachina Classic Title, tallying an almost perfect score of 18. Freshman standout Brandi Gutierrez (El Paso, Texas) crushed the competition with a first place finish and a time of 18:54.1 in the 3.2-mile race. For the men, freshman Michael Hart led the Aggies to a solid fifth place, finishing 11th overall. The Aggies will be back in action Friday, Oct. 3 as they travel to Tempe, Ariz. to compete at the Arizona State Invitational.
SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS - San Jose State women’s and men’s cross country teams both took sixth place in the Pepperdine Invitational on September 22. The women, running in only their fifth 6K race in four years, had seven different Spartans set new 6K career-best times. The Spartans placed three runners in the top 30, led by Erica Sahli’s ninth-place finish (6k, 21:05.24). For the men, Sam Wambugu returned to his 2006 form and was the top finisher for the Spartans, placing 26th with a time of 26:00.12. San Jose State looks ahead to next week where they will split for the Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind. on September 28th, and the Stanford Invitational on Saturday, September 29th.
UTAH STATE AGGIES - Utah State’s men and women’s cross country teams are back in action Saturday, Sept. 29, when they travel to Springfield, Ore. to run in the Oregon Invitational. The Aggie women finished first at the Montana State Invitational on Sept. 15, while the men took third overall.
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