THIS WEEK IN THE WAC
Friday, September 20
Grand Canyon at Dave Murray Invitational Tucson, Ariz.
Texas-Pan American at Ricardo Romo Classic San Antonio, Texas
Saturday, September 21
Bakersfield at The Mustang Challenge Santa Clarita, Calif.
Kansas City at Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational Lincoln, Neb.
Utah Valley at MSU Invitational Bozeman, Mont.
WEEK 3 RESULTS
Friday, September 13
New Mexico State at Lori Fitzgerald Invitational M-3rd/3, W-1st/3
Utah Valley at Utah Valley Invitational M-2nd/4, W-2nd/4
Saturday, September 14
Idaho at Sundodger Invitational M-4th/5, W-3rd/7
Seattle U at Sundodger Invitational M-5th/5, W-5th/7.
Chicago State at UW-Parkside Midwest Open M-14th/15, W-15th/16
Bakersfield at Fresno Invitational W-5th/6
FOUR WAC SCHOOLS REGIONALLY RANKED
Four Western Athletic Conference squads earned recognition after being ranked in the top 15 of their respective regional rankings by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Utah Valley and New Mexico State appear in the men’s Mountain Region rankings, placing eighth and 15th, respectively. On the women’s side, Utah Valley remains the 10th-ranked team in the Mountain Region. Idaho entered the rankings at No. 15 in the West Region.
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK, SEPT. 9-15
Utah Valley’s Trac Norris and Idaho’s Hannah Kiser have been named the Western Athletic Conference men’s and women’s Cross Country Athletes of the Week, respectively, for Sept. 9-15.
Norris, a sophomore from Panguitch, Utah (Panguitch HS), earned a third-place finish on his home course during the UVU Invitational. Norris’ time of 18:26.29 in the 5k race claimed his second top-four finish of the season and was the best finish of career. Prior to this season, he had not run since 2009 due to a redshirt and an LDS mission.
Kiser, a senior from Wenatchee, Wash., (Wenatchee HS), raced for the first time on the season and finished sixth out of 86 runners at the Sundodger Invitational at Seattle, Wash. Her time of 20:50.0 in the women’s 6k run is second only to her time at the Sundodger last year, where she set an Idaho course record with a finish of 20:45.21. Kiser helped aid the Vandals in their third place overall-finish in the meet with a score of 87, trailing only Washington (No. 5 in the nation) and Oregon State (No. 7 in the West Region).
Other Men’s Nominees: Cody Helbling, Idaho … Nathan McLaughlin, Seattle U.
Other Women’s Nominees: Oslyn Melissa Collins, Chicago State … Hannah Mittelstaedt, Seattle U … Brooke Hodson-Davies, Utah Valley University.
TEAM RECAPS
Bakersfield Roadrunners
The Roadrunners last competed Sept. 14 at the Fresno State Classic, earning a fifth-place finish out of six teams ... freshman LaShya Morgan was the top finishing Bakersfield cross country runner for the second consecutive meet, as Morgan turned in a time of 20:09.70 over the 5k Woodward Park course to finish 24th overall ... she was credited with 21st-place points ... Jorey Braughton finished 41st overall, Megan Thompson was 46th, Kaylee Moyer placed 54th and Ariana Mariscal finished 63rd ... the Roadrunners return to the road on Saturday when Bakersfield competes at The Mustang Challenge, hosted by the Master’s College in Santa Clarita.
Chicago State Cougars
Chicago State competed at the UW-Parkside Midwest Open in Somers, Wisc. ... the men finished 14th and the women place 15th ...junior DeShaunte Lewis turned in Chicago State the men’s best performance, with a time of 27:35.9 on the 8K course ... Lewis finished 58th among 166 finishers ... junior Oslyn Melissa Collins led the women with an 11th place finish among 200 runners ... her time of 18:45.8 was the best of the day for the Cougars ... Collins finished just short of the Chicago State record at the UW-Parkside course, which was set by Abidemi Charles on Oct. 20, 2003 (18:42) ... Chicago State has a week off before the College of DuPage Invite on Sept. 27.
Grand Canyon ‘Lopes
The Grand Canyon University men’s and women’s cross country teams opened the 2013 schedule at the George Kyte Classic in Flagstaff, Ariz. on Sept. 7 ... both teams finished in fourth place, running against Arizona, Arizona State and Northern Arizona ... both the men and women raced against nationally-ranked opponents, as the NAU men are ranked No. 2 and the Arizona women are ranked No. 7 ... GCU had three women post sub-20 minute times in the women’s 5k race, while the men had three sub-30 minute times in the 8k race … junior Brandon Kocmoud posted a time of 27:48.0 in the men’s race, leading the ‘Lopes ... senior Jelena Andjelkovic led the women with a 19:09.0 mark in the women’s 5k event ... coming off a bye, the ‘Lopes will be in action on Friday, travelling to Tucson, Ariz. for the Dave Murray Invitational, hosted by Arizona.
Idaho Vandals
Idaho competed at the Sundodger Invitational on Sept. 14, with the women claiming third place and the men finishing in fourth ... senior Hannah Kiser finished sixth out of 86 runners, placing only behind runners from Washington, the No. 7 team in nation the most recent rankings ... her time of 20:45.21… Kiser helped aid the Vandals in their third place overall-finish in the meet with a score of 87 ... Kiser was named WAC Cross Country Athlete of the Week for her efforts ... junior Cody Helbling crossed the finish line in 10th place out of 87 runners at the Sundodger Invitational…his time of 24:14.01 over the 8k course is the third-fastest time in Idaho history… Idaho is off for two weeks, before competing at the Dellinger Invitational in Eugene, Ore., Oct. 5.
Kansas City Kangaroos
The ‘Roos opened the season at the Bob Timmons Classic on Aug. 31, falling in both the men’s and women’s dual format to Kansas ... the Kansas City women were led by Smithville, Mo. native Katie Tuck, who finished third with a time of 19:31.27 ... Kelly Carpenter earned eight points with a time of 19:52.93 ... Kaitlyn Stryczek finished third on the team with a time 20:04.86 ... the ‘Roo men were paced by Bryce Miller‘s time of 19:44.66 ... Nathan Keown and James Barnett came in at times of 20:03.93 and 20:11.59, respectively ... the UMKC cross country teams be in action again on Saturday at the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational, hosted by the University of Nebraska.
New Mexico State Aggies
The Aggies competed in the Lori Fitzgerald Invitational on Sept. 13, where the women claimed a first-place finish and the men finished third ... junior Diana Hawk finished first overall with a time of 14:05.2 ... this is the third time in three races that Hawk has taken the top overall spot ... on the men’s side, junior Nathan Starr paced the Aggies again and finished in fifth with a time of 18:01.3 ... Starr has been the top individual finisher for the Aggies in three races this season ... the Aggies will have the week off before hosting the Kachina Classic on Sept. 28.
Seattle University Redhawks
The Seattle University cross country teams competed at the Sundodger Invitational on Sept. 14 ... both squads finished in fifth place ... senior Hannah Mittelstaedt once again crossed the finish line as the Redhawks’ top female finisher, posting a 15th-place finish in 21:42. ... senior captain Lauren Hammerle ran a strong race, moving up into 19th place at the end with a time of 21:50, followed by Sophie Curatilo in 23rd place in 21:56 ... sophomore Nathan McLaughlin was the first runner representing Seattle U across the line in 49th place ... he was followed by fellow sophomore Gus Arroyo in 57th place in 25:45.32, a full minute faster than the mark he achieved last season at the same exact event ... the Redhawks will have three weeks before their next competition, the Bill Dellinger Invitational Saturday, Oct. 5, in Springfield, Ore.
Texas-Pan American Broncs
The UTPA men’s and women’s cross country travelled to Seguin, Texas, for the Texas Lutheran University Invitational on Sept. 7 ... at the five-team meet, the men placed second and the women took third ... senior Luis Serrano finished second out of 31 runners with a time of 16:10 in the 5k race, earning WAC Athlete of the Week honors for his effort ... senior Robin Galloso recorded a seventh-place finish, out of 45 runners, with a time of 19:34 in the 5k race, pacing the UPTA women ... UTPA will be in action again on Friday at the UTSA Ricardo Romo Classic in San Antonio, Texas.
Utah Valley Wolverines
Utah Valley hosted the UVU Invitational on Sept. 13 ... both the men and women earned second-place finishes at the four-team meet ... sophomore Trac Norris recorded a career-best finish, placing third ... in his first competition since 2009 (redshirt and LDS Mission), Lynch turned in a time of 20:55.92 on the four-mile course finishing just off of the lead pace ... he was named WAC Cross Country Athlete of the Week ... senior Brooke Hodson-Davies Best had career-best finish, placing third with a time of 18:29.3 in the 5k race … Hodson-Davies ran sparingly last season due to illness/injury, but was a 2013 NCAA Regional Qualifier in Outdoor T&F (Steeplechase) ... this week the Wolverines travel to Bozeman, Mont. for the MSU Invitational.