THIS WEEK IN THE WAC
Saturday, Nov. 1, Las Cruces, New Mexico
Western Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships
WAC CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Women report to starting line 9:45 a.m.
Women’s race (5,000 meters) 10:00 a.m.
Men report to starting line 10:30 a.m.
Men’s race (8,000 meters) 10:45 a.m.
Awards ceremony to follow men’s race
WAC CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2008 WAC Cross Country Championship travels to Las Cruces, New Mexico. This year’s championships will be held Saturday, Nov. 1 at the New Mexico State Golf Course. Utah State won last year’s men’s championship, while Idaho took the title on the women’s side.
November 1, 2008
Las Cruces, New Mexico
Host: New Mexico State
New Mexico State Golf Course
Admission: Free
MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES
Boise State Broncos
ï® The Broncos are competing under first year distance coach Brad Wick.
ï® Brian Pierre was named WAC Cross Country Athlete of The Week for the week of Sept. 15-21.
ï® Pierre also took the individual title, finishing first at the Bob Firman Invitational.
ï® Boise State took the title at their first meet of the year, the Roger Curran Invite.
ï® As a team, the men have never finished lower than third in any of their events.
ï® Sawyer Bosch has help lead the Broncos with two third-place finishes at the Wilamette Invitational and Roger Curran Invitational.
Fresno State Bulldogs
ï® Sophomore Erick Garcia won two individual race titles, the Santa Barbara Bronco Invitational and the Pepperdine Invitational.
ï® Fresno State’s five scoring racers all finished under 26 minutes at the Pepperdine Invitational (8K).
ï® Erick Garcia was named WAC Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week twice in 2008. He now has five such honors in his career.
ï® Sophomore Max Hernandez ran a personal-best 26:09.01 at the Pepperdine Invitational.
ï® Two Bulldogs, Erick Garcia and Frank Sanders, ran sub-25 minute 8Ks twice in the 2008 season.
ï® Freshman Eric Battles established himself as Fresno State’s No. 3 runner, timing in with a personal-best 25:27 at Santa Clara’s Bronco Invitational.
Idaho Vandals
ï® The 2008 season marks the 100th year of men’s cross country at Idaho. The Vandal men have earned 11 cross country titles during the program’s storied history, which includes some of the best runners the Northwest has seen, including Olympians Clarence ?Hec’ Edmundson and Vic Dyrgall.
ï® The Vandal men, like the women, feature a relatively new cast of runners, as three of the team’s regular finishers are true freshmen. Senior Jeremiah Johnston has been the team’s top finisher in two races, while freshman Markus Geiger has been Idaho’s top runner in the other two. Fellow freshmen Alex Brekke and James Clark have also been in Idaho’s top five in each of the team’s meets this season.
ï® In three years in the Western Athletic Conference, the Vandal men have finished no worse than third. In their very first season in 2005, the men scored 75 points and took second. In 2006, Idaho scored 80 for third and in 2007, scored 65 for second once again.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
ï® Seniors Nate Davis, Kinsey Dinnel and Zac Schuler all red-shirted the 2007 season in the hopes to join a more experienced team in 2008.
ï® Kinsey Dinnel was named WAC Athlete of the Week twice in the 2008 season.
ï® Tech head coach Gary Stanley was named the 2008 WAC Indoor Coach of the Year.
ï® Stanley is now in his 27th season with the Louisiana Tech track and field and Cross country programs
ï® Senior Zac Schuler was named All-WAC and All-LSWA in 2006.
ï® Kinsey Dinnel finished third at the United States Junior Track and Field Championships June 25, 2005, in the 3000-steeplechase with a time of 9:20.16.
ï® Louisiana Tech has been ranked in the Top 10 of the USTFCCCA South Central Coaches Poll for most of the 2008 season.
New Mexico State
ï® At the Arizona State Invitational, the men’s and women’s teams brought home first-place finishes, marking the first time in nine seasons that the men’s and women’s Arizona State Invitational was won by the same university.
ï® With the deepest men’s roster in recent history, the Aggies have recorded 22 top 20 finishes during the season.
ï® Freshman standout Ian Ruybalid has paced the men across three of the four finish lines this season. At the Arizona Invitational, Ruybalid paved the way to the Aggies’ first-place finish with a ninth place overall finish in a time of 26:32.1 in the 8k race. This was the first time since the 20th century that NMSU placed first at a meet.
ï® Sophomore harrier Michael Hart has also been a force as he led the Aggies across the finish line at the Lori Fitzgerald Invitational with an eighth-place finish in a time of 22:14.40 in the 6667k race.
San Jose State Spartans
ï® Augie Argabright is the only person to serve as head coach of the San Jose State University men’s cross country program since its reinstatement in 1997.
ï® San Jose State seeks to improve on three straight fifth-place finishes the last three WAC Championship meets.
ï® David Haefele, a junior from Orange, Calif., was named the WAC Athlete of the Week for his 12th place finish at the San Francisco State Invitational on October 10.
ï® Sean Dundon and David Haefele are the two Spartans who have a top-20 individual finish this season. Dundon was 20th at the San Francisco State Invitational.
ï® Alan Shelton is the one Spartan who has earned academic All-WAC honors.
ï® Six Spartans, David Blausey, Sean Dundon, Cameron Duran, David Haefele, Alan Shelton and Gordie Throne have competed in each of the first four meets.
Utah State Aggies
ï® USU men have won three-straight WAC Cross Country Championships (2005, 2006, 2007).
ï® Senior Ben Kessen was named WAC Athlete of the week for the first time in his career for the period ending Sept. 1.
ï® Utah State’s men and women both finished eighth at the NCAA regionals last fall.
ï® Ben Kessen was the top finisher four-straight times this season before junior Jason Holt stepped up from a two-time second finisher streak to lead the Aggies in their most recent race at pre-nationals.
ï® The Aggies have 11 men returning, including six who earned all-WAC honors last year. Jared Glenn, Hunter Nelson, Jason Holt, Steve Strickland, Chio Lopez and Nick Bollinder all earned all-WAC honors for the men last fall.
ï® Head coach Gregg Gensel was named 2006 Coach of the Year and has lead the Aggies to 22 conference championships during his time as head coach.
WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES
Boise State Broncos
ï® The Broncos are competing under first year distance coach Brad Wick.
ï® Breanna Sande is looking to repeat as the 2007 WAC champion.
ï® Carly Gerard has led the way for the Broncos as their top-finisher in the Bob Firman Invitational as well as two other top-25 finishes.
ï® Karleigh Gimpher has also led the way for the Broncos with two top-20 finishes.
ï® As a team, the Broncos have never finished worse than third in any of their events this year.
ï® The team won its first meet of the season, the Roger Curran Invitational.
ï® At the Charles Bowles Invitational, Gerard, Gimpher, Sande and Pamila Ward finished in the top-25.
Fresno State Bulldogs
ï® Three Bulldogs timed in under 23-minutes at the Pepperdine Invitational (6K).
ï® Junior Jennifer Hernandez ran a personal-best 5K at Santa Clara’s Bronco Invitational with a time of 18:18.
ï® Junior Marissa McPhail led the Bulldogs in all but one race over the course of the season.
ï® Fresno State’s top three finishers at each race in 2008, Marissa McPhail, Jennifer Hernandez, and Briana Cleary, all timed in within a minute of each other in four of five races. Senior Briana Cleary set a new 5K personal-best by nearly 30 seconds with her 18:36 finish in Santa Clara’s Bronco Invitational.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine
ï® Sophomore Mariana Monasi is the team’s top runner in 2008, leading the Wahine in all five regular season meets.
ï® Monasi had a season-best 5K time of 18:45 at the Santa Clara Invitational.
ï® Althea Belgrave began her first year as the team’s cross country coach and assistant track and field coach in charge of the distance runners. Belgrave, a three-time national champion of her native country Barbados, came to UH from Florida State.
ï® Sophomore Tava Tedesco has consistently finished among the team’s top two finishers and posted a season-best 5K time of 19:21 at the Santa Clara Invitational.
ï® Freshman Liisa Cushing has emerged as an up-and-coming distance runner with four top three finishes including a season-best 18:57 at the Santa Clara Invitational.
Idaho Vandals
ï® The Vandal women have won Western Athletic Conference titles in two of their three seasons in the conference. Idaho took home the crown in 2005 in its first WAC meet when four Vandal runners placed in the top five and the team finished with 30 points, then last year in 2007, the team scored 39 to take the crown.
ï® In its first three seasons, the Idaho women’s cross country team has had two individual WAC Champions. In 2005, Dee Olson won the women’s race and earned WAC Cross Country Athlete of the Year and in 2006, Rhea Richter earned WAC Cross Country Freshman of the Year and Cross Country Athlete of the Year with her victory.
ï® Since joining the conference, Idaho’s women have claimed eight first-team all-WAC honors and one second-team all-WAC honor, as well as two Athlete of the Year awards and one Freshman of the Year award.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters
ï® Freshman Chelsea Dressel has finished in the top ten in every race she has competed in this season.
ï® Tech head coach Gary Stanley was named the 2008 WAC Indoor Coach of the Year.
ï® Stanley is now in his 27th season with the Louisiana Tech track and field and Cross country programs.
ï® The Techsters took a pair of third place finishes this season; first at Northwestern State on Sept. 29, and again at Centenary on Oct. 4.
ï® Sophomores Monique Write and Shante Benion were part of the 2008 Indoor and Outdoor WAC Championship teams.
ï® Freshman Stacia Hanneman was a highly touted track recruit out of the Nashville, Tenn.
Nevada Wolf Pack
ï® Nevada has finished in second place at the last two WAC Championships in 2006 and 2007.
ï® This season Nevada returns all of its all-WAC honorees from the 2007 WAC Cross Country Championships in 2007 WAC Freshman of the Year Sam Davis. In addition, Nevada returns All-WAC first team selections from a year ago in Christa Avena, Natalia Jarawka and Davis.
ï® This season, Christa Avena has been named WAC Athlete of the Week twice on September 1 and September 29.
ï® As a team, Nevada has won one meet this season, the 4K Nevada Twilight Cross Country Classic on August 29.
ï® Dating back to last season, Christa Avena has been Nevada’s top finisher in the last nine meets in which Nevada has competed as a team dating back to September of 2007.
New Mexico State Aggies
ï® At the Arizona State Invitational, the men’s and women’s teams brought home first-place finishes, marking the first time in nine seasons that the men’s and women’s Arizona State Invitational was won by the same university.
ï® At the Arizona State Invitational, NMSU’s women recorded a near perfect score of 16 points as five Aggies finished in the top 10, with less than a minute difference.
ï® The Aggies have recorded 17 top-10 finishes throughout all races this season.
ï® NMSU’s junior distance specialist Ingrid Flores has paced the Aggies in every race but one and has placed within the top five in every race this season.
ï® Junior Ingrid Flores was honored with back-to-back WAC Athlete of the Week honors. This is the first time since NMSU has joined the WAC that an harrier has won consecutive weekly awards.