THIS WEEK IN THE WAC
Friday, September 6
Chicago State at Bradley Invitational, Peoria, Ill.
Saturday, September 7
Texas-Pan American at Concordia Lutheran Invite, Seguin, Texas
Grand Canyon at George Kyle Invitational, Flagstaff, Ariz.
New Mexico State at Lobo Invitational, Albuquerque, N.M.
WEEK 1 RESULTS
Friday, August 30
Texas-Pan American at RGV Relays No Team Scores
New Mexico State at Texas Tech Invitational M-2nd/2, W-2nd/2
Seattle U at UW/SU Open M-2nd/2, W-2nd/2
Saturday, August 31 Location
Utah Valley at Aggie Invite M-2nd/3, W-2nd/w
Kansas City at Bob Timmons Classic/Rim Rock M-2nd/2, W-2nd/2
Idaho at Northwest Classic M-3rd/5 , W-2nd/5
Chicago State at UIC Opener PPD
Bakersfield at Mark Covert Classic W-8th/8
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK, AUG 26 - SEPT. 1
Utah Valley’s Jason Lynch and Idaho’s Halie Raudenbush have been named the Western Athletic Conference men’s and women’s Cross Country Athletes of the Week, respectively, for Aug. 26 - Sept. 1.
Lynch, a sophomore from Sandy, Utah (Hillcrest HS), recorded a career-best finish after placing second at the Utah State Invitational in Logan, Utah. 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.
Raudenbush, a sophomore from Boise, Idaho (Timberline HS), placed first overall on Saturday at the Clash of the Inland Northwest to lead the way for the Vandal women. Her time of 14:20.00 was eight seconds ahead of the second-place finisher and helped her claim victory over the 104 other entered runners. Raudenbush improved her time by 48 seconds compared to her 2012 race at the same event.
Other Men’s Nominees: Cody Helbling, Idaho … Nathan Starr, New Mexico State … Nathan McLaughlin, Seattle U.
Other Women’s Nominees: LaShya Morgan, Bakersfield … Diana Hawk, New Mexico State … Hannah Mittelstaedt, Seattle U … Bridget Hazel, Utah Valley.
TEAM NOTES
Bakersfield Roadrunners
The Roadrunner women began the 2013 season on Saturday with an eighth-place finish at the Mark Covert Classic in Brea, Calif. ... LaShya Morgan, a freshman from Bakersfield, Calif. (Ridgeview HS), led the Roadrunners with a 38th-place finish, posting a time of 19:39.8 in her collegiate debut ... the freshman’s time is the second-best time amongst active runners for CSUB ... fellow freshman Tori Blackmon finished 71st, with a time of 21:08.4 ... CSUB will have a week off before driving a few hours north for the Fresno Invitational, hosted by Fresno City College, on Saturday, Sept. 14, at 8:30 a.m. at Woodward Park.
Chicago State Cougars
Chicago State’s season-opener was postponed on Aug. 31 ... no make up date has been announced ... sophomore Jusilya Scott is the only returning member of either the men or women teams to return from last season ... Prisca Roys-Dossou and Melissa Collins each ran together at Colby Community College last season ... Melissa Collins ran at the 2008 World Junior Championships in Poland ... the Cougars have four meets scheduled in the state of Illinois ... Chicago State’s six men’s cross country runners come from six different states ... Chicago State will now look to open the season on Friday night at the Bradley Intercollegiate, located in Peoria, Ill.
Grand Canyon ‘Lopes
Grand Canyon will open the season on Saturday at the George Kyte Invitational in Flagstaff, Ariz ... both GCU squads finished third at last year’s Pacific West Championship, marking a new top-finish for the men’s squad and matching the women’s best, which they also did in 2011 ... the top returner for the ‘Lopes on the women’s side is sophomore Kelsi Klotter, who finished 11th at the conference championships en route to garnering Second Team All-PacWest ... the men return Brandon Kocmoud, who was a Third Team All-PacWest selection last year following a 16th-place finish at the conference championships ... GCU is under the guidance of first-year head coach Michael Hoffmann, who takes over after having served as an assistant coach in 2012.
Idaho Vandals
A squad of primarily newcomers and freshman opened up the 2013 season for the Idaho Vandals on Aug.31 at the Clash of the Inland Northwest ... the Vandal women’s team finished the day in second, while the men took third … returning sophomore Halie Raudenbush led the way for the Idaho women with a first-place overall finish in 14:20.0 followed by senior Holly (Stanton) Browning (9th, 14:48.0) and sophomore Stephanie Rexus (15:01.0) … for the Vandal men, junior transfer Cody Helbling set the pace with a time of 19:04.00 to finish 12th overall ... he was followed closely by freshman Nicholas Boersma, who finished in 15th with a time of 19:11.0 ... the Vandals have a two-week break from action before their next competition, when the team travels to Seattle, Wash., for the Sundodger Invitational on Saturday Sept. 14.
Kansas City Kangaroos
The ‘Roos opened the season at the Bob Timmons Classic, 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 at the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational, hosted by the University of Nebraska, on Sat., Sept. 21.
New Mexico State Aggies
The Aggies opened the season at the Texas Tech Invitational, with both squads falling in the dual meet format to the Red Raiders ... the NM State women’s team finished second overall in the three-mile run with 30 points, falling just shy of Texas Tech’s 26 points ... junior Diana Hawk took a first-place overall finish last week and looks to build on that success this week ... junior transfer Megan McNally finished fourth overall in her first contest as an Aggie ... junior Nathan Starr made an immediate impact on the men’s team and finished first for the Aggies last week ... Evan Bekes looks to build on his success as he finished second for the Aggies in last week’s contest ... this weekend, the Aggies travel to Albuquerque, N.M. on Saturday to compete in the Lobo Invitational.
Seattle University Redhawks
The Seattle University cross country opened the 2013 season on Aug. 30 with the UW/SU Open at Magnuson Park in Seattle ... many of the Seattle U women put together strong performances, including senior Hannah Mittelstaedt, who finished second overall with a time of 17:07.35 over the three-mile course. ... the next Redhawk to cross the finish line was junior Sophie Curatilo in 11th place in 17:20.09 ... several members of the Seattle U men’s team did not compete in the opener for a variety of reasons ... sophomore Nathan McLaughlin finished as the Redhawks’ top runner, crossing the finish line in 11th place overall with a time of 22:44.93.... the Seattle U cross country team will next compete at the UW Sundodger Invitational Saturday, Sept. 14, at Lincoln Park in West Seattle.
Texas-Pan American Broncs
The UTPA men’s and women’s cross country kicked off the season at the RGV Relays last Friday where they ran against Texas A&M-University Corpus Christi and UT-Brownsville ... the RGV Relays is a relay type meet where members of each team pair up and then run two two-mile stints where times are combined for an eight mile total ... Luis Serrano and Sergio Mireles teamed up to post a combined eight-mile time of 39:50 to lead the men’s team ... Robin Galloso and Savanna Antley led the women’s team with a combined time of 48:18 ... the UTPA cross country teams head to Seguin, Texas for the Texas Lutheran University Invitational on Saturday.
Utah Valley Wolverines
Utah Valley opened the season on Aug. 31 at the Utah State Invitational, with both squads placing second ... Utah State won with 24 points to UVU’s 32 in the dual on the men’s side, and earned a 24-45 victory over the UVU women ... sophomores Jason Lynch and Bridget Hazel each recorded second-place finishes for the Wolverines ... Lynch was named WAC Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week after running a time of 20:55.92 on the four-mile course ... Hazel (19.37.80) edged out UVU teammate Ivie Gonsalves (19.38.04), who is redshirting and ran unattached, by just 24-hundredths of a second to finish in second ... Utah Valley will run again on Friday, Sept. 13 when it hosts the UVU Invitational.
THIS WEEK IN WAC TRACK AND FIELD
The 2013 WAC Cross Country season kicked off last weekend with eight teams scheduled for action, but Chicago State’s meet was postponed. Four schools competed for the first time as WAC members.
This week will see Chicago State and Grand Canyon make season debuts, while New Mexico State and Texas-Pan American will be in action for the second time on the season.
FOUR WAC SCHOOLS REGIONALLY RANKED
Four Western Athletic Conference squads earned preseason 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 seventh and 15th, respectively. On the women’s side, Utah Valley begins the 2013 season as the 10th ranked team in the Mountain Region. Texas-Pan American came in 15th in the South Central Region.
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
NCAA REGIONALS
The 2013 Cross Country Regionals will be held at nine sites throughout the country on Friday, Nov. 15. WAC teams will be represented in four locations. The West Region will be held in Sacramento, Calif., (Sacramento State). The Mountain Region will be held in Ogden Utah, (Weber State), the South Central Regional (Baylor University) will take place in Waco, Texas, and the Midwest Region (Iowa State) will take place in Ames, Iowa.
November 15, 2013
Great Lakes - University of Wisconsin
Mid-Atlantic - Lehigh University
Midwest - Iowa State University
Mountain - Weber State University
Northeast - Manhattan College
South Central - Baylor University
South - University of Alabama
Southeast - University of Virginia
West - Sacramento State University
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 2013 Cross Country National Championships will take place in Terre Haute, Ind.. The race will take place at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center.
November 23, 2013
Wabash Valley Family Sports Center
599 S. Tabortown Rd.
Terre Haute IN 47803 USA
Phone: 812-877-1388