THIS WEEK IN THE WAC
Monday, September 29
Louisiana Tech at Northwestern State Invitational, W-3rd/7
Friday, October 3
New Mexico State at Arizona State Invitational, Tempe, Ariz.
Saturday, October 4
Nevada at Doc Adams Invitational, Davis, Calif.
Utah State at Notre Dame Invitational, South Bend, Ind.
Fresno State at Pepperdine Invitational, Malibu, Calif.
Louisiana Tech at Tiger Invitational, Auburn, Alab.
Idaho at Willamette Invitational, Salem, Ore.
Boise State at Willamette Invitational, Salem, Ore.
Louisiana Tech at Centenary Invitational, Shreveport, La.
LAST WEEK IN THE WAC
Saturday, September 27
Nevada at Roy Griak Invitational, W-11th/20
Fresno State at Stanford Invitational, M-15th/28, W-25th/33
San Jose State at Stanford Invitational, M-21st/28, W-21st/33
Hawai?i at Stanford Invitational, W-30th/33
Louisiana Tech at LSU Tiger Festival, M-2nd/11
Boise State Broncos
The Broncos did not compete last week. The team returns to the course this week at the Willamette Invitational in Salem, Ore.
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Fresno State Bulldogs
Both the men’s and women’s cross country teams put on solid performances at the Stanford Invitational on Saturday morning from the Stanford Golf Course ... Erick Garcia paced the men in their 8K to 15th place as a team, while the women took 25th in 6K ... the Bulldogs used the race as a preview of the NCAA Regional as the teams will compete at the Stanford Golf Course at the end of the season ... Garcia continued to lead the way for the Bulldogs, finishing in 22nd place out of the 234 competitors in a season-best time of 25:12 ... junior Marissa McPhail led the Bulldog women through the 6K course, crossing the line as the 99th finisher of the 278 racers with a time of 23:22.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine
Hawai’i completed the Stanford Invitational with a 30th place finish Saturday ... the 6K race was held at the Stanford Golf Course ... more than 270 athletes and 33 teams competed in the annual event, won by host Stanford with a combined 43 points ... sophomore Mariana Monasi led the Rainbow Wahine, crossing the finish line in 23:58 for 131st place ... junior Tava Tedesco completed the 6K course in 24:36 for 158th place. Also scoring points for UH were Liisa Cushing (25:14, 178th), Samantha Lotnick (27:20, 210th), and Gina Nourmohamadian (27:31, 213th) ... Briana Goodnight competed as an individual and placed 214th with a time of 27:41.
Idaho Vandals
Idaho did not compete. The team returns to action this Saturday at the Willamette Invitational in Salem, Ore.
Louisiana Tech
On the men’s side, Kinsey Dinnel, a senior, placed second at the LSU Cross Country Festival in Baton Rouge, La ... Dinnel finished the eight-kilometer course with a time of 25:02.6, helping his team to a second place finish ... the Bulldogs lost to LSU by just two points, but beat McNeese State and Houston among a host of other Louisiana schools ... the women competed at the Northwestern State Invitational on Monday, placing third ... Chelsea Dressell was the top finisher for Louisiana Tech, finishing with a 5K time of 22:00.08.
Nevada Wolf Pack
Nevada narrowly missed posting a top-10 finish at the 23rd annual Roy Griak Invitational as the Pack finished 11th out of 23 teams Saturday afternoon ... senior Christa Avena was the Pack’s top finisher for the third time this season as she came in 47th overall in the 6K race with a time of 22:38. The women’s gold race featured 222 athletes ... Janet Martinez was Nevada’s second finisher, coming in 54th overall (22:52) while Jordan Burke finished 63rd overall, running a 23:03. Amanda Moreno took 68th overall (23:08) followed by Chelsea Chauvet-Moore (77th; 23:16), Tiffany Tandy (87th; 23:28) and Natalia Jarawka (99th; 23:43).
New Mexico State Aggies
New Mexico State did not compete last week. The team will compete at the Arizona State Invitational in Tempe on Oct. 3.
San Jose State Spartans
The Spartans competed at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto this past week ... on the men’s side, junior David Haefele was the team’s top finisher for the third time this season as the Spartans finished 21st in the 28-team field ... Haefele covered 8,000 meters on the Stanford University campus in 26:21, his second best 8,000-meter time of the season, and placed 80th in the 234-runner field ... for the women, senior Jenna Hicks was the top finisher for the second meet in a row with her 61st place finish ... Hicks posted a 6,000-meter time of 23:00 in the team’s first 6k race of the season... as a team, SJSU finished 21st in the 33-team field.
Utah State Aggies
The Aggies did not compete last week ... the team is preparing for its Oct. 4 race at the Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind.
WAC NOTES
LOUISIANA TECH’S DINNEL, NEVADA’S AVENA NAMED CROSS COUNTRY ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Louisiana Tech’s Kinsey Dinnel and Nevada’s Christa Avena have been named the Western Athletic Conference men and women’s Cross Country Athletes of the Week, respectively, for the week of Sept. 22-28.
Dinnel, a senior from Loranger, La. (St. Thomas Aquinas HS), placed second at the LSU Cross Country Festival in Baton Rouge, La. Dinnel finished the eight-kilometer course with a time of 25:02.6, helping his team to a second place finish. The Bulldogs lost to LSU by just two points, but beat McNeese State and Houston among a host of other Louisiana schools.
Avena, a senior from Las Vegas, Nev. (Bishop Gorman HS), was the Pack’s top finisher for a third consecutive meet, placing 47th out of 222 runners at the Roy Griak Invitational. Avena clocked a 6-kilometer time of 22:38. She has been Nevada’s top finisher the past eight meets dating back to Sept. 15, 2007.
Other Men’s Nominees: Fresno State’s Erick Garcia placed 15th at the Stanford Invitational with an 8K time of 25:12.
Other Women’s Nominees: Fresno State’s Marissa McPhail led the Bulldog women with a 99th place finish at the Stanford Invitational with a 6K time of 23:22.
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
NCAA REGIONALS
The 2008 Cross Country Regionals will be held at nine sites throughout the country, Saturday, Nov. 15. WAC teams will be represented in three locations. The West Region will be held in Stanford, Calif. (Stanford University). The Mountain Region will be held in For Collins, Colo. (Colorado State University), while Louisiana Tech will be the lone team in the South Central Regional (Baylor) in Waco, Texas.
November 15, 2008
Great Lakes Region - Purdue University
Mid Atlantic Region - Princeton University
Midwest Region - Oklahoma State University
Mountain Region - Colorado State University
Northeast Region - Columbia University-Barnard College
South Region - University of Tennessee, Knoxville
South Central Region - Baylor University
Southeast Region - Wake Forest University
West Region - Stanford University
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS ? The 2008 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 24, 2008
Wabash Valley Family Sports Center
Terre Haute, Ind.
Host: Indiana State University
Ticket Info: 812/237-4040