THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
Saturday, September 24
Hawai‘i at BYU-Hawaii Invitational, Lai’ie, Hawaii
Hawai‘i at Stanford Invitational, Stanford, Calif.
Fresno State at Roadrunner Invitational, Bakersfield, Calif.
Fresno State at Stanford Invitational, Stanford, Calif.
Monday, September 26
Louisiana Tech at Stephen F. Austin Inv., Nacogdoches, Texas
WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Fresno State Bulldogs
Fresno State did not compete this past weekend ... the team now has double the opportunity for success this weekend ... with two invitationals scheduled during the same weekend, the women’s team will take off to Bakersfield, Calif. and the top seven men and women will head to Palo Alto, Calif. ... the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif. is a great opportunity for the team to compete against some of the best schools in California ... the Roadrunner Invitational in Bakersfield, Calif. is a chance for the women’s team to grow stronger and to compete.
Hawai‘i Rainbow Wahine
Hawai’i did not race this past week but returns to action this weekend ... the team will make its first mainland appearance of the season by competing in the Stanford Invitational, Saturday, Sept. 24 at the Stanford Golf Course ... the women’s 6K race begins at 11:30 a.m. PT ... more than 270 athletes and 30 schools will compete ... on the same day, UH’s “B” team will participate in the Brigham Young-Hawai’i Invitational held around the BYUH campus in La’ie, O’ahu ... the Rainbow Wahine are coming off a third place showing at the Big Wave Invitational, Sept. 10 ... the Stanford Invitational is one of two regular season mainland meets for Hawai’i ... the Stanford Golf Course is also the site of the NCAA West Regional Championships, hosted by Stanford on Nov. 12.
Idaho Vandals
Sophomore Hannah Kiser broke a school record and the University of Idaho men’s and women’s cross country teams made strong statements on Saturday at the Sundodger Invitational at Seattle, Wash. ... Kiser was the top collegiate finisher at the meet and second overall, behind only Idaho assistant coach Allix Lee-Painter, with a school-record 6000m time of 20:58.43 ... she led the Vandal women to a second-place finish behind Washington, the nation’s 11th-ranked team ... not to be outdone, Idaho’s men put four runners in the top nine overall and posted a team score of 37 to finish just seven spots behind team champion Washington, the West Region’s No. 6 team. Junior Barry Britt led the way with a third-place individual finish.
Louisiana Tech
Louisiana Tech’s men swept in a triple-dual scored meet Saturday morning as Tech hosted the annual Mook 4 Meet at Lincoln Parish Park ... Josh Slocum led the way for the men with a 4mile time of 21:26 while Mary Kate Hays paced the women with a 4,400m time of 18:50 ... the Bulldogs posted wins over Northwestern State (15-40), Grambling State (20-35), LeTourneau (15-40) and Louisiana College (15-40). The Lady Techsters topped Louisiana College (19-36) and LeTourneau (20-35) but fell to Centenary (31-24) ... Slocum’s 21:26 time finished second overall ... on the women’s side, Hays finished fourth overall at 18:50.
Nevada Wolf Pack
Nevada did not compete last week ... the team next returns to the course on Oct. 1 when the Pack heads to the Desert Invitational in Las Vegas, Nev.
New Mexico State Aggies
New Mexico State dominated at the Kachina Classic on Saturday, Sept. 17, by finishing first in both the men’s 8K and women’s 5K ... the men’s team finished first with a score of 26 for the best overall finish of the season so far. UTEP finished second with a score of 38 and New Mexico finished with 87 ... the women’s team finished first with a score of 33 points over UTEP with 39, UNM with 52 and El Paso Community College with 103. NM State finished two places ahead of UNM, currently ranked No. 2 in the nation ... NM State will have next weekend off before traveling to Stillwater, Okla., for the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree on Saturday, Oct. 1.
San Jose State Spartans
San Jose State’s men finished in fourth place out of 11 teams in the UC Riverside Invitational in Riverside, Calif., on September 17 ... freshman Mueen Ghoury led the Spartans for the second race, finishing the 8K dirt course in 25:22.9, good for 14th place ... Sterling Granger and Juan Ruiz also added top-25 performances coming in 18th and 24th respectively ... freshman Aylin Mejia and senior Elizabeth Raymond both had top-20 finishes helping San Jose State to a third place finish out of 19 teams on the women’s side ... Mejia finished the 5K course in 18:06.3, good for 13th place out of 249 individuals competing. Raymond came in 19th place with a time of 18:16.9.
Utah State Aggies
Senior captain Brian McKennatook first-place at the Bozeman Running Company Montana State Cross Country Invitational Saturday with a time of 24:27.00 in the five-mile race, leading the Utah State men to a second-place team finish ... joining McKenna in the men’s top-15 included sophomore Kyle McKenna, who finished fourth with a time of 24:40.00 ... for the USU women, senior captain Ruth Hilton led the way with a sixth-place finish with a time of 17:31.00 in the five-kilometer race, while sophomore Hannah Williams and junior Kaylee Campbellplaced 13th (17:51.00) and 15th (17:55.00), respectively ... the Aggie women also garnered second-place team accolades.
WAC NOTES
UTAH STATE’S MCKENNA AND IDAHO’S KISER NAMED CROSS COUNTRY ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Utah State’s Brian McKenna and Idaho’s Hannah Kiser have been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference men’s and women’s Cross Country Athletes of the Week, respectively, for Sept. 12-18.
McKenna, a senior from Farmington, Utah (Viewmont HS), took first place at the Bozeman Running Company Montana State Invitational on Saturday with a time of 24:27.00 in the 5-mile race, leading Utah State to a second place team finish. McKenna has now taken first place in a cross country race four times in his career.
Kiser, a sophomore from Wenatchee, Wash. (Wenatchee HS), broke the Idaho school record for a 6000m race with a time of 20:58.43, which is the fastest mark by a WAC woman over that distance this season. Kiser was the top collegiate finisher at the Sundodger Invitational, which featured the nation’s No. 11 team, Washington. Kiser led Idaho to a second place team finish. She broke Idaho’s six-year-old previous record of 21:02.
Other Men’s Nominees: Barry Britt, Idaho; Jonah Roybalid, New Mexico State.
Other Women’s Nominees: Camille Schultz, New Mexico State; Ruth Hilton, Utah State.
WAC CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2011 WAC Cross Country Championship travels to Honolulu, Hawaii. This year’s championships will be hosted by the University of Hawaii and will take place at the Kaneohe Klipper Golf Course on Saturday, Oct. 29. The Utah State men and New Mexico State women claimed the championships last year.
October 29, 2011
Honolulu, Hawaii
Host: University of Hawaii
Course: Kaneohe Klipper Golf Course, Marine Corps Base
Admission: Free - All spectators must contact the head coach of the team they are supporting or the WAC office (bjones@wac.org) in order to be included on a pass list to enter the Marine Base. All names must be submitted by Friday, Oct. 14.
NCAA REGIONALS
The 2011 Cross Country Regionals will be held at nine sites throughout the country, Saturday, Nov. 12. WAC teams will be represented in three locations. The West Region will be held in Palo Alto, Calif. (Stanford). The Mountain Region will be held in Provo, Utah (Brigham Young), while Louisiana Tech will be the lone team in the South Central Regional (Baylor) in Waco, Texas.
November 12, 2011
Great Lakes Region -Toledo
Mid Atlantic Region - Maryland-Eastern Shore
Midwest Region - Nothern Illinois
Mountain Region - Brigham Young
Northeast Region - Buffalo
South Region - Alabama
South Central Region - Baylor
Southeast Region - Louisville
West Region - Stanford
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS – The 2011 Cross Country National Championships once again travels to Terre Haute, Ind. The race will take place at the Lavern Gibson championship cross country course.
November 21, 2011
Wabash Valley Family Sports Center
Lavern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course
Terre Haute, Ind.
Ticket Info: 812/877-1388