THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
Saturday, September 26
Boise State at Bob Firman Invitational, Eagle, Idaho
Hawai‘i at Chaminade Invitational, Waipahu, O’ahu
Fresno State at Roadrunner Invitational, Bakersfield, Calif.
Nevada at Stanford Invitational, Palo Alto, Calif.
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos
The Broncos have only one meet under their belts so far with the men winning the NNU Roger Curran Invitational and the women placing second ... the team’s second meet of the season will be on Sat., Sept. 26 with the men’s race slated for an 8:50 a.m. start at the Bob Firman Invitational ... the meet will be held in Eagle, Idaho at Eagle Island State Park.
Fresno State Bulldogs
Fresno State did not compete last week ... the team preps for its next meet on Sept. 26 at the Roadrunner Invitational in Bakersfield, Calif.
Hawai‘i Rainbow Wahine
Hawai‘i’s Jessica Forrester won the 4K Big Wave Invitational with a time of 15:05.44 ... Forrester’s performance helped UH place second in the women’s team standings ... this week, Hawai‘i will participate in the Chaminade Invitational in Waipahu, O’ahu on Saturday, Sept. 26.
Idaho Vandals
Idaho’s women put five finishers in the top 25 among collegiate competitors and finished fourth as a team at the Sundodger Invitational ... five Vandal women improved their times in the race by double-digit second margins over last year’s respective finishes ... Idaho’s men took fifth at the Sundodger Invitational ... two Idaho sophomores, Markus Geiger and James Clark, made significant time cuts at the event, as Geiger improved by 29 seconds and Clark by 13 over their times from last year’s race ... freshman Sam Salus made his Idaho debut and finished 35th overall as Idaho’s No. 4 runner on the day.
Louisiana Tech
Nate Davis ran a team-best and season-best 26:56 mark at the Mississippi State Invitational Saturday morning in wet and muddy conditions to lead Louisiana Tech to a second place finish ... LA Tech finished second only to host Mississippi State in the meet despite muddy conditions following several days of steady rain in the South. Davis, a senior, was one of four LA Tech runners to finish in the top 25.
Nevada Wolf Pack
Nevada did not compete last week ... the team continues to prepare for the Stanford Invitational, which will be held on Sept. 26 in Palo Alto, Calif.
New Mexico State Aggies
Sophomore Courtney Schultz finished first for the Aggies for the second week ... she clocked a time of 18:47.1 in the 5k race ... following Schultz to the finish was sophomore Camille Schultz and senior Ingrid Flores ... on the men’s side, NM State finished three in the top-15 on its 8k home course this weekend ... sophomore Ian Ruybalid led the Aggies across the line followed by Freshman Ryan Fenton and Jonah Ruybalid ... [Ian] Ruybalid led the Aggies in the Kachina Classic for the second year in a row. The next group of Aggies was Robert Self in 20th followed by Kevin Hemphill and sophomore Marcus Porter, in the next two spots.
San Jose State Spartans
San Jose State’s men finished ninth out of 30 teams last week at the UC Riverside Invitational, while the women placed fourth out of 15 teams ... leading the men was Alfredo Coronado, who finished in 24th place in a field of 343 runners with a time of 24:56.7 at the UC Riverside Invitational on September 19 ... he was San Jose State’s top finisher in the race which included teams with top national ranks ... on the women’s side, Nisha Richardson raced the 5K course in 18:18.0 to place 72nd.
Utah State Aggies
Utah State’s women finished fourth overall in the MSU Invitational and finished first in its season opener ... In the Aggie men’s second race of the season they tabbed their second first-place finish ... the Aggies will have a bye week and than resume action at the Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind. on Saturday, Oct. 3. Which is also home of the NCAA Championships later this Fall.
WAC NOTES
BOISE STATE’S HIGGS AND PORTER NAMED CROSS COUNTRY ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Utah State’s Brian McKenna and Hawai‘i’s Jessica Forrester have been named the Western Athletic Conference men and women’s Cross Country Athletes of the Week, respectively, for Sept. 14-20.
McKenna, a sophomore from Farmington, Utah (Viewmont HS), was Utah State’s top finisher at the Montana State Invitational as he cut the tape of the five-mile course with a time of 25:11.00 to place fourth overall. It marks the second race in a row that McKenna has led the Aggies to a first place team finish.
Forrester, a senior from Brandon, Florida (University of Tampa), won the women’s individual title at the 4K Big Wave Invitational last week. Forrester crossed the finish line with a time of 15:05.44 to held the Rainbow Wahine to a second place team finish.
Other Men’s Nominees: Markus Geiger, Idaho; Nate Davis, Louisiana Tech; Ian Ruybalid, New Mexico State; Alfredo Coronado, San Jose State.
Other Women’s Nominees: Teegan Schoch, Idaho; Courtney Schultz, New Mexico State; Jessie Chugg, Utah State.
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