THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
Friday, September 4
Nevada at Jim Vanden Heuvel Twilight, Reno, Nevada
Fresno State at Jim Vanden Heuvel Twilight, Reno, Nevada
Saturday, September 5
Hawai‘i at UPU Invitational, Kane’ohe, O’ahu
Idaho at Clash of the Inland Northwest, Spokane, Wash.
New Mexico State at Lobo Invitational, Albuquerque, N.M.
San Jose State at Brooks Memphis Twilight, Memphis, Tenn.
Utah State at Utah State Open, Logan, Utah
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos
The Broncos enter their second season under the guidance of head coach Brad Wick ... the Boise State men return four All-WAC honorees: Brian Pierre (First Team), Sawyer Bosch, Scott Foley, Kevin Higgs (Second Team) ... Boise State boasts a roster of 15 men and 21 women on their 2009 rosters ... Boise State men return as the WAC runner-up from 2008 while the women hope to improve on their fifth place finish ... Bronco men finished in the top-3 as a team in five meets during the 2008 season (won two, finished second at WAC and had two third place finishes).
Fresno State Bulldogs
Bulldogs welcome back 3 All-WAC performers in Eric Battles, Erick Garcia and Frank Sanders ... WAC’s lone qualifier for the NCAA Championship, Erick Garcia, returns for his Junior campaign ... Marissa McPhail and Jennifer Hernandez return with All-WAC honors under their belts ... seven Bulldogs earned Academic All-WAC for the 2008 season
Hawai‘i Rainbow Wahine
Sophomore Mariana Monasi was UH’s top runner last season recording team-best times in the first five races and posting three Top 12 performances ... also returning is Tava Tedesco, who posted team-best times at the WAC Championships and NCAA West Regionals ... team returns 11 runners from last season ... head coach Carmyn James begins her 10th season with the program and is assisted by distance coach Althea Belgrave.
Idaho Vandals
Idaho returns 10 of its 11 runners on the women’s team that finished second at last year’s WAC Championships and eight of 10 runners from the men’s team that finished fourth in the WAC ... Idaho’s women were honored last season by the USTFCCCA with the third-highest grade-point average in the NCAA last season. The Vandal women had a 3.730 team GPA and was honored as a USTFCCCA All-Academic Team ... Idaho returns three all-WAC runners from a year ago ... success is no stranger to the Idaho women’s cross country team ... since the Vandals joined the WAC in 2005, the Idaho women have produced two team titles and three individual titles.
Louisiana Tech
On the men’s side of the team, Louisiana Tech looks to improve on its fifth place finish at the WAC Championship in New Mexico last season ... LA Tech’s men did lose a pair of top-10 finishers from last year’s conference championship in Kinsey Dinnel and Zach Shuler .... on the women’s side, Louisiana Tech placed ninth and did not have an athlete finish in the top-25.
Nevada Wolf Pack
Nevada will host three meets during the season including the WAC Championships on October 31 ... Nevada returns sophomore Jordan Burke who was the 2008 WAC XC Freshman of the Year and also earned First Team All-WAC honors ... the 2009 roster includes fifteen student-athletes including 10 underclassmen and two seniors Natalia Jarawka and Mandy Russ ... Nevada also returns junior Janet Martinez who posted a top-20 finish at the 2008 WAC Championships.
New Mexico State Aggies
The NM State men’s cross country team is returning 12 runners from the 2008 season ... top returners include junior Michael Hart and sophomore Ian Ruybalid ... both Aggies led the team throughout last season ... with the majority of the team returning, it will set a strong foundation for the six newcomers joining the Aggies this year ... the women’s team is returning seven runners this season ... among those are junior Amy Arenas, senior Ingrid Flores and junior Brandi Gutierrez ... the team had three top-ten finishes on the season while Arenas was a consistent top-three finisher and Gutierrez and Flores led the Aggies in three races.
San Jose State Spartans
Five returning runners for have received academic All-WAC awards in their San Jose State careers on the men’s side ... six men returning players have WAC Championship experience ... SJSU’s men finished in first place at the Bronco Open hosted by Santa Clara last season ... senior David Haefele returns after being San Jose State’s top finisher in 5 of 7 events in 2008 ... 11 women return for the 2009 season and have WAC Championship experience ... seven women return for the 2009 season have received Academic All-WAC awards in their careers at San Jose State ... SJSU’s women finished sixth out of nine teams at the 2008 WAC Championship.
Utah State Aggies
Utah State men’s and women’s cross country teams will defend their titles after sweeping the 2008 WAC Championships ... the men’s team claimed its fourth straight WAC title while the women’s team won its second title in three years ... Utah State returns two first-team all-WAC men in seniors Steve Strickland and Jason Holt ... Holt was also named WAC Athlete of the Year in 2008 after winning the WAC individual title ... the Aggies also return three women who earned second-team all-WAC honors including juniors Kim Quinn and Alicia Holt, and sophomore Ruth Hilton.
WAC NOTES
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