Schedule: 2009 NCAA REGIONALS
November 14, 2009
Mountain Region - hosted by New Mexico (Nevada, New Mexico State, Utah State)
UNM North Golf Course:Albuquerque, N.M.
men’s 10K race at 10:45 a.m. MT, followed by the women’s 6K at 12 p.m. MT
West Region - hosted by Oregon (Boise State, Fresno State, Hawai‘i, Idaho, San Jose St.)
Springfield Country Club: Springfield, Oregon
men’s 10K race at 9:45 a.m. PT , followed by the women’s 6K at 10:45 a.m. PT
WAC NOTES
NEW MEXICO STATE WINS FIRST-EVER WAC WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY TITLE
The New Mexico State women’s cross country team made history as it won the WAC Championship title in Reno, Nev., Saturday, Oct. 31.
With its first place finish in the WAC, this is the highest that NM State has finished in the programs history. The team finished with 29 points, more than 40 points ahead of second-place Utah State. The race was led by the Aggies own Courtney Schultz (Cloudcroft, N.M.) with a time of 19:11.4. Schultz who is a freshman on the team this year was named Athlete of the year as well as Freshman of the Year for the conference.
One second behind Schultz was her sister, Camille Schultz (Cloudcroft, N.M.), earning a second place finish in the conference. The Schultz sisters both earned first team All-WAC honors for their efforts in Reno. Also earning first team all-conference was senior Ingrid Flores (El Paso, Texas) as she placed seventh overall. Freshman Chelsa McDonnell (Klamath Falls, Ore.) and junior Brittany Hurtado (Albuquerque, N.M.) rounded out the top-10 placing seventh, ninth and 10th, respectively.
McDonnell, Hurtado, along with junior Brandi Gutierrez (El Paso, Texas) earned second team All-WAC accolades for their effort at the conference meet. The women’s team had six runners in the top-15 while the men placed three in the top-20.
UTAH STATE WINS MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP
Utah State men’s cross country team won the 2009 Western Athletic Championships Saturday for the fifth-straight year. Sophomore Brian McKenna was named WAC Athlete of the Year for tabbing first-place overall.
McKenna has been the Aggies’ top finisher in every race thus far this season and culminating with the athlete of the year honor and a first-place finish in the 8k course in 26:00.1. McKenna was also named to first-team all-WAC.
Following close behind McKenna was sophomore Daniel Howell (26:04.4), finishing in third-place overall and earning first-team all-WAC accolades.
The Aggie men all finished in the top 25 runners of the race with senior Steve Strickland tabbing sixth and first-team all-WAC honors as he clocked in at 26:34.5. Junior Nick Bolinder (26:36.8) took seventh and was also named first-team all-WAC. Sophomore Steve Atkinson (26:39.0) was eighth and earned second-team all-WAC honors along with senior Jason Holt (26:51.8) who finished 12th. Junior Chio Lopez (27:15.4) finished 18th overall. Juniors Eric Larson (27:20.9) and Casey Snider (27:35.9) rounded out the Aggie finishers tabbing 19th and 23rd, respectively.
Utah State took first with 25 points, while Fresno State came in second with 67 points and Boise State followed close behind with 69 points. In fourth place was New Mexico State (87 points) followed by Idaho in fifth (123 points) and San Jose State in sixth (190 points). Louisiana Tech (208 points) finished in seventh-place was.
Gensel earned WAC Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year honors. It is the fifth time Gensel has earned the honor in the WAC and the eighth time in his career.
The men’s streak of five-straight titles is the longest since former WAC member UTEP captured the title from 1973-83. It is also the longest streak of any current WAC member. The five total titles is the third-most ever, as UTEP won 17 total titles, and BYU won seven.
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
2009 ALL-WAC WOMEN'S HONORS
All-WAC First Team
Courtney Schultz, New Mexico State
Camille Schultz, New Mexico State
Teegan Schoch, Idaho
Jessie Chugg, Utah State
Jordan Burke, Nevada
Shannon Porter, Boise State
Ingrid Flores, New Mexico State
All-WAC Second Team
Roxanne Sellick, Fresno State
Chelsa McDonnell, New Mexico State
Brittany Hurtado, New Mexico State
Alma Janet Martinez, Nevada
Brandi Gutierrez, New Mexico State
Alicia Holt, Utah State
Samantha Diaz, Nevada
WAC Freshman of the Year
Courtney Schultz, New Mexico State
WAC Coach of the Year
Paul Harkins and Meaghan Gregory, New Mexico State
WAC Athlete of the Year
Courtney Schultz, New Mexico State
2009 ALL-WAC MEN'S HONORS
All-WAC First Team
Brian McKenna, Utah State
Erick Garcia, Fresno State
Daniel Howell, Utah State
Markus Geiger, Idaho
Kevin Rosaaen, Boise State
Steve Strickland, Utah State
Nick Bolinder, Utah State
All-WAC Second Team
Steve Atkinson, Utah State
Ian Ruybalid, New Mexico State
Paul Zwama, Fresno State
Sawyer Bosch, Boise State
Jason Holt, Utah State
Danny Vartanian, Fresno State
Jeff Howard, Boise State
WAC Freshman of the Year
Kevin Rosaaen, Boise State
WAC Coach of the Year
Gregg Gensel, Utah State
WAC Athlete of the Year
Brian McKenna, Utah State