THIS WEEK IN THE WAC
Friday, September 27
Chicago State at College of DuPage Invite Warrenville, Ill.
Texas-Pan American at Islander Splash Corpus Christi, Texas
Saturday, September 28
New Mexico State at Kachina Classic Las Cruces, N.M.
WEEK 4 RESULTS
Friday, September 20
Grand Canyon at Dave Murray Invitational M-4th/4, W-4th/4
Texas-Pan American at Ricardo Romo Classic M-3rd/3, W-3rd/3
Saturday, September 21
Bakersfield at The Mustang Challenge W-5th/5
Kansas City at Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational M-4th/8, W-12th/26
Utah Valley at MSU Invitational M-3rd/7, W-5th/8
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK, SEPT. 16-22
Utah Valley’s Trac Norris and Kansas City’s Courtney Frerichs have been named the Western Athletic Conference men’s and women’s Cross Country Athletes of the Week, respectively, for Sept. 16-22.
Norris, a sophomore from Panguitch, Utah (Panguitch HS), placed seventh at the Montana State Invitational in Bozeman, Mont. Norris ran the five-mile course in 25:45, helping the Wolverines to a third-place finish out of seven teams. This is Norris’ second consecutive WAC Athlete of the Week honor.
Frerichs, a sophomore from Nixa, Mo., (Nixa HS), won the Nebraska/Woody Greeno Invitational on Sept. 21, claiming the race against 271 other runners. The sophomore’s time of 20:57.80 for 6K is a new school record and ranks 3rd all-time on the course. Frerichs defeated her nearest opponent, Kansas State’s Laura Galvan, by just over 26 seconds.
Other Men’s Nominees: Brandon Kocmound, Grand Canyon … Bryce Miller, Kansas City … Luis Serrano, Texas-Pan American.
Other Women’s Nominees: LaShya Morgan, Bakersfield … Kelsi Klotter, Grand Canyon … Robin Galloso, Texas-Pan American … Darian Sharp, Utah Valley University.
THREE WAC SCHOOLS REGIONALLY RANKED
Three 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 12th and 15th, respectively. On the women’s side, Idaho remains in the rankings at No. 15 in the West Region.
The Utah Valley women dropped out of the ranking after being ranked at No. 10 in the Mountain Region last week.
WAC CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2013 WAC Cross Country Championship travels to Seattle, Wash. This year’s championships will be hosted by Seattle University and will take place at the Jefferson Park Golf Course. The Idaho women will look to win a fourth-consecutive WAC title. UT Arlington claimed the men’s title last season.
November 2, 2013
Seattle, Wash.
Host: Seattle U
Course: Jefferson Park Golf Course
Admission: Free
TEAM RECAPS
Bakersfield Roadrunners
The Roadrunners competed at The Mustang Challenge, hosted by the Master’s College in Santa Clarita, Calif. .... the ‘Runners finished fifth at the meet ... freshman LaShya Morgan was the top finishing Bakersfield cross country runner for the third consecutive meet, as Morgan turned in a time of turned in a time of 19:44.08 on the 5K course to finish 36th overall ... junior Megan Thompson finished 43rd (20:15.11) ... junior Jorey Braughton posted a career best time of 20:18.51 to place 44th ... Bakersfield is off until Oct. 19 when the Roadrunners compete in the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational in Sunnyvale, Calif.
Chicago State Cougars
Chicago State last competed at the UW-Parkside Midwest Open in Somers, Wisc. on Sept. 14 ... the men finished 14th and the women placed 15th ...junior DeShaunte Lewis turned in 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 is back in action this week, at the College of DuPage Invite, on Friday.
Grand Canyon ‘Lopes
The Grand Canyon University men’s and women’s cross country teams travelled to Tucson, Ariz. for the Dave Murray Invitational, hosted by Arizona. on Sept. 21... both teams finished in fourth place, running against Arizona, Arizona State and Northern Arizona for the second consecutive meet ... the NAU men’s squad was ranked second nationally in the latest USTFCCCA poll, while the ASU men were 28th ... the U of A’s women’s team was ranked fifth in the same poll.... for the second straight meet, Brandon Kocmoud led the way for the ‘Lopes men, running the 4.25 mile course in 23:45.27 to finish 20th ... Kelsi Klotter was the top finisher for the women, posting a mark of 19:33.67 to claim 27th ... GCU is off this week and will be back in action on Oct. 5 when they host the GCU Invitational.
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 behind only runners from Washington, the No. 7 team in nation ... with a 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 in the midst of a three week break, before competing at the Dellinger Invitational in Eugene, Ore., Oct. 5.
Kansas City Kangaroos
The ‘Roos competed on Sept. 21 at the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational, hosted by the University of Nebraska.... the men’s squad finished fourth and the women’s squad place 12th ... the Kansas City women were led by sophomore Courtney Frerichs, who claimed the race against 271 other runners ... the sophomore’s time of 20:57.80 for 6K is a new school record and ranks third all-time on the course .... Frerichs defeated her nearest opponent, Kansas State’s Laura Galvan, by just over 26 seconds ... the ‘Roo men were paced by Bryce Miller who placed 12th (25:56.50) ... the UMKC cross country teams will be off this week, before returning to action in South Bend, Ind. at the Adidas Notre Dame Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 4.
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 ... senior Sarabel Bojorquez and junior Megan McNally followed Hawk closely and have swept the top three spots in the last two meets ... 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 be back in action after a week off, hosting the Kachina Classic on Saturday.
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 competed on Sept. 20 at the UTSA Ricardo Romo Classic in San Antonio, Texas ... both the men and women’s teams finished third ... senior Martin Casse ran his first meet of the season and posted a time of 16:37.1 for an 11th-place finish ... women’s runner Robin Galloso posted her best time of the season in the 5K with a time of 19:11.1, while finishing in ninth ... this week, the Broncs head to Corpus Christi, Texas for the Islander Splash, where both teams finished in third place in 2012 ... Casse finished the 2012 Islander Splash in eighth place.
Utah Valley Wolverines
The Utah Valley University cross country teams raced at the Bozeman Running Co/Montana State Invitational on Sept. 21 at Bridger Creek Golf Course ... the men finished third and the women placed seventh ... sophomore Trac Norris placed seventh with a time of 25:45 ... he earned his second straight WAC Athlete of the Week honor ... Darian Sharp’s time of 18:05 earned a 15th-place finish, just two spots and two seconds in front of teammate Brooke Hodson-Davies (17th, 18:07) in the three mile race ... the Wolverines will have next week off to prepare for the Color Country Invitational at Southern Utah on Friday, Oct. 4.