THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
Saturday, Oct. 31 Reno, Nevada
Western Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships
Washoe County’s Rancho San Rafael Park
WAC CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Men report to starting line 9:45 a.m.
Men’s race (8,000 meters) 10:00 a.m.
Women report to starting line 10:30 a.m.
Women’s race (5,000 meters) 10:45 a.m.
Awards ceremony to follow women’s race
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos
The Bronco men have earned four top-3 finishes out of the five meets run this season ... the Bronco men have had an individual finisher in the top-5 in four of the five meets ... Kevin Higgs placed first at the Roger Curran Invite (the first meet of the season) while Sawyer Bosch has been the top finisher for the team in the second, third and fourth meets ... the Bronco women have finished in the top-10 in three of their five meets ... the women have been led by Shannon Porter in four of the five meets this season ... Porter won the individual title at the Roger Curran Invite.
Fresno State Bulldogs
Fresno State’s women finished 10th among the 17 teams competing at the Bronco Invitational … seven Bulldogs set season-bests at the race, including Pamela Cruz, Paloma Dominguez, Marrijtje Molenhuis, Jocelyn Oviedo, Veronica Paredes, Roxanne Sellick and Kelsey Smith … the team beat out two conference foes, San Jose State and Boise State, and just behind Hawai’i … the Bulldog men had their best finish of the season, taking second place among the 15 teams competing in the 8K Men’s Invitational … first-place Long Beach State was just three points better than Fresno State, winning with a score of 69 to the Bulldog’s 72.
Hawai‘i Rainbow Wahine
UH’s highest finish at the WAC Cross Country Championship is fourth in 2000 and 2001, the latter of which featured the team’s only individual championship (Cheryl Smith) ... newcomers Ashley Aitken and Jessica Forrester have been UH’s top performers this season with Forrester earning one individual title at the Big Wave Invitational and Aitken placing sixth overall at the highly competitive Bronco Invitational ... Tava Tedesco has two Top 40 finishes at WAC Championships during her career while Mariana Monasi, UH’s top runner last season, placed 46th overall in 2008.
Idaho Vandals
Idaho runners took third in both the men’s and women’s races as more than 200 runners descended upon the University of Idaho Golf Course Saturday afternoon for the Inland Northwest Cross Country Challenge ... sophomore Markus Geiger was the third overall finisher and the second collegiate finisher in the men’s 8,000m race with a 24:23.30, while senior Melissa McFaddan paced the women with a third-place finish of her own in 18:07.95 on the 5,000m course.
Louisiana Tech
Louisiana Tech enters this year’s championship after taking the past two weeks off in preparation ... at Tech’s last meet, Josh Slocum paced Louisiana Tech with a time of 27:37 and a 26th place finish as the Bulldogs placed eighth at the Watson Ford Invitational at the Choctaw Trails on the campus of Mississippi College Saturday ... Slocum’s time gave him the top Bulldog time for the third time in four races this season and is his second-best 8k time of the season ... Matt Wolfe, placing second among the Bulldog runners, finished 38th overall with a time of 28:10 ... Jack Ramstad placed 40th at the meet with a time of 28:13 with Kyle Davis placing 46th and Jermaine Morris finishing 50th.
Nevada Wolf Pack
Nevada has recorded a top three finish at the WAC Championships each of the last three seasons ... the Pack finished second in both 2006 and 2007 and third in 2008 ... Nevada has won one WAC Cross Country title in 2003 ... Nevada’s highest finish of the season was a second-place finish at the WAC Preview Open which the Pack hosted on October 10.
New Mexico State Aggies
Leading the women this season is sophomore Courtney Schultz ... she led the Aggies in five races this season. Her best finish of the year was at the Bronco Invitational, where she placed third overall ... Schultz received WAC Athlete of the Week honors for that performance ... sophomore Ian Ruybalid (Los Lunas, N.M.) has improved his time by more than a minute since the 2008 WAC Championships in Las Cruces ... Ruybalid clocked a time of 26:35.10 at last year’s race and his season best for 2009 came at the Bronco Invitational where he ran the 8k in 25:19.
San Jose State Spartans
The SJSU men return five athletes who have WAC Championship experience with San Jose State ... the SJSU men finished in first place at the Bronco Open hosted by Santa Clara on October 18, 2008 ... senior David Haefele returns after being San Jose State’s top finisher in 5 of 7 events in 2008 ... the SJSU women return 11 athletes that have WAC championship experience ... the SJSU women finished second place with a 2008 best score of 56 at the Bronco Invitational hosted by Santa Clara on October 18 ... the women also finished sixth out of nine teams at the 2008 WAC Championship
Utah State Aggies
Utah State men’s and women’s cross country teams split this weekend’s action sending half of each team to the NCAA Pre-Nationals in Terra Haute, Ind. and half to the Idaho State Invitational ... the women’s action in Idaho State was led by freshman Stephanie Burt who came in 17th overall clocking in at 11:25.00 ... the Utah State women finished fourth overall with 108 points in Pocatello ... in the men’s 5k race, freshman Kyle Moffet (16:31.00) was the Aggies top finisher tabbing 14th place.
WAC NOTES
WAC CROSS COUNTRY PRE-CHAMPIONSHIP POLLS RELEASED
The Western Athletic Conference announced its men’s and women’s cross country pre-championship coaches’ polls, as voted on by the nine head coaches in the league. Utah State was selected as the favorite to win the men’s championship, while New Mexico State was picked to win the women’s title.
Utah State, the winner of the past four men’s WAC championships, was picked to win the men’s title. The Aggies received six first-place votes and 36 points. Boise State captured second place with 27 points with one first place vote. Fresno State claimed the third spot with 26 points. With 18 points, Idaho was voted fourth. New Mexico State (17) and San Jose State (14) followed closely behind in fifth and sixth place, respectively. Louisiana Tech received nine points to finish seventh.
On the women’s side, New Mexico State was selected first with seven first-place votes and 58 overall points. 2008 champion Utah State followed closely in second with two first-place votes for 55 points. With 46 points, Idaho was picked to finish third. Nevada received 45 points to capture the fourth spot, while Fresno State was ranked fifth with 37 points. Hawai‘i was selected sixth with 31 points, followed by Boise State in seventh with 26 points. San Jose State (18) and Louisiana Tech (8) were picked to finish eighth and ninth, respectively.
The 2009 Western Athletic Conference cross country championships will take place at Washoe County’s Rancho San Rafael Park in Reno, Nevada on Saturday, Oct. 31.
WAC CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2009 WAC Cross Country Championship travels to Reno, Nevada. This year’s championships will be held Saturday, Oct. 31 at the Rancho San Rafael Park. Utah State swept both the men’s and women’s championships last year.
October 31, 2009
Reno, Nevada
Host: Nevada
Rancho San Rafael Park
Admission: Free
NCAA REGIONALS
The 2009 Cross Country Regionals will be held at nine sites throughout the country, Saturday, Nov. 14. 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 Albuquerque, N.M. (University of New Mexico), while Louisiana Tech will be the lone team in the South Central Regional (Baylor) in Waco, Texas.
November 14, 2009
Great Lakes Region - Indiana University
Mid Atlantic Region - University of Maryland
Midwest Region - Missouri State University
Mountain Region - University of New Mexico
Northeast Region - Boston University
South Region - University of Alabama
South Central Region - Baylor University
Southeast Region - University of Louisville
West Region - University of Oregon
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS – The 2009 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 23, 2009
Wabash Valley Family Sports Center
Terre Haute, Ind.
Host: Indiana State University
Ticket Info: 812/237-4040