THIS WEEK IN THE WAC
Friday, October 3
Utah Valley at Color Country Invitational Cedar City, Utah
Saturday, October 4
Bakersfield at Pomona-Pitzer Invitational Claremont, Calif.
Chicago State at Louisville Cross Country Classic Louisville, Ky.
Grand Canyon at Rim Rock Farm Classic Lawrence, Kans.
UMKC at Rim Rock Farm Classic Lawrence, Kans.
New Mexico State at Rim Rock Farm Classic Lawrence, Kans.
Seattle U at Portland State Meet Portland, Ore.
UTPA at 26th Annual Chile Pepper Festival Fayetville, Ark.
WEEK 5 RESULTS
Friday, September 26
Chicago State at College of DuPage Invite N/A
New Mexico State at Lori Fitzgerald Invitational W 1st/2, M 2nd/2
Saturday, September 27
UTPA at Islander Splash W 4th/6, M 4th/6
UMKC at Roy Griak Invitational W 30th/35, M 29th/31
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK, SEPT. 23-29
Missouri-Kansas City’s Courtney Frerichs and Texas-Pan American’s Jose Juan Wells have been named the Western Athletic Conference men’s and women’s Cross Country Athletes of the Week, respectively, for Sept. 23-29.
Frerichs, a senior from Nixa, Mo. (Nixa HS) and USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week for September 15th, was the only runner able to place in the top ten overall for both the men’s and women’s teams. Courtney took seventh place with a time of 21:19 in the women’s 6k at the Roy Griak Invitational in St. Paul, Minn. this weekend. Frerichs’ time ranked her seventh out of 390 runners, defeating several all Americans.
Wells, a junior from Cottonwood, Arizona (Central Arizona College), finished in third place this weekend at the Islander Splash in Corpus Christi, Texas. Wells finished less than a second behind the first place finisher, recording a time of 26:12.7 in the men’s 8k race. He placed third out of 57 runners from Houston, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Sam Houston State, Texas Southern and Prairie View A&M.
Other Women’s Nominees: New Mexico State… Senior Diana Hawk finished first for the Aggies for the fourth meet this season, placing second overall with a time of 20:17.45 in the 5500 meter race this weekend at the Lori Fitzgerald Invitational… Texas-Pan American… freshman Jennifer Zapata finished in eighth place out of 47 runners as she posted a time of 18:40.7 at the Islander Splash 5k race in Corpus Christi.
Other Men’s Nominees: New Mexico State… Senior Daniel Rubio finished first for the Aggies for the fourth meet this season, placing sixth overall with a time of 17:46.61 in the 5500 meter race this weekend at the Lori Fitzgerald Invitational… Missouri-Kansas City… Junior Kolton Sheldon led the ‘Roos coming in 78th place at the Roy Griak Invitational posting a time of 26:17 in the men’s 8k.
TEAM NOTES
Bakersfield Roadrunners
The ‘Runners finished 11th this weekend at the Mustang Challenge in Santa Clarita, Calif… LaShya Morgan paced the ‘Runners in her eighth collegiate and eighth consecutive race, posting a collegiate-best time of 19:24.3 in the 5k race, lowering her previous best by over seven seconds… Morgan finished 39th in the pool of 169 runners… sophomore Ariana Mariscal shattered her previous collegiate-best mark of 21:11.9 with a time of 19:51.1 this weekend… freshman Angel Valdez continues to run strong as Bakersfield’s number-three, finishing just five seconds behind Mariscal (19:56.5) in the fastest race of her young, collegiate career… Bakersfield will compete again on Oct. 4 at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational in Claremont, Calif.
Chicago State Cougars
DID NOT REPORT NOTES
Grand Canyon Lopes
The Lopes earned a sixth place women’s team finish and the men earned an eighth place team finish at the Mustang Challenge on Friday… the women’s team had a top finish to mark their first 5k of the season with junior Kelsi Klotter leading the Lopes with a time of 19:07.8…freshman Mariah Montoya and sophomore Lacey Peterson were not far behind, placing 33rd and 38th with times of 19:15.2 and 19:15.9, respectively…the men’s team was led by senior Brandon Kocmoud with an impressive eight place finish with a time of 26:07.1 … teammate Tyler Vandyke also had a stellar run and finished 11th with a time of 26:22.6… Mathew Jackson, Chris Baker and Samuel Proctor rounded out the team scores for the Lopes…Grand Canyon will continue their season at the Rim Rock Farm Classic hosted by Kansas in Lawrence, Kans., on Oct. 4.
Kansas City Kangaroos
Both of the Kansas City Cross Country teams competed in the 29th Annual Roy Griak Invitational on Saturday… senior Courtney Frerichs was the only runner able to place in the top ten overall for both of the teams in which she came in seventh with a time of 21:19 in the women’s 6k… next to finish for UMKC was freshman Chandler Carreon (24:13) and sophomores Sarah Fogarty (24:37), Katie Tuck (24:41) and Megan Mills (24:49)… there were a total of 390 Division I runners for the women’s race… on the men’s side, junior Kolton Sheldon led the team coming in 78th place with a time of 26:17 in the men’s 8k… following him was senior Taylor Wardall (27:13) as well as freshman Jason Fambrough (27:14) and senior Alex Nail (28:05)…including UMKC, the men’s race comprised of a total of 301 Division I runners… UMKC will travel to their next competition in Lawrence, Kans. for the Rim Rock Classic on Saturday, Oct. 4th.
New Mexico State Aggies
The Aggies competed at the Lori Fitzgerald meet on Friday in El Paso, Texas where the women’s team took first against UTEP while the men’s team fought hard but came in second against the Miners… Senior Diana Hawk led the women’s team for the fourth consecutive meet placing second overall with a time of 20:17.45 in the 5500 meter race… teammate Megan McNally followed Hawk placing third overall with a time of 21:32.24… on the men’s side Hab Rubio also led the Aggies for his fourth consecutive meet placing sixth overall with a time of 17:46.61… Nathan Starr finished eighth overall for the men’s team with a time of 18:13.6… New Mexico State will travel to Lawrence, Kan. to compete in the Rim Rock Farm Classic this weekend.
Seattle University Redhawks
The Seattle University cross country team competed at the Sundodger Invitational this weekend where the men’s and women’s teams finished fourth overall… the women’s team was led by senior Sophie Curatilo who finished in 17th place overall with a time of 21:44, 12 seconds faster than her mark at the same event last year… Curatilo was followed by teammate Taylor de Laveaga who finished in 21st place at 21:58 and Elena Smith in 27th place with a time of 22:32… the men’s cross country team was led by junior Gus Arroyo as the team’s top finisher, who placed 21st overall with a time of 25:24… Arroyo was followed by teammate Baxter Arguinchona in 22nd place at 25:30…the next five finishers for Seattle U were freshman competing in their first collegiate 8k race… Seattle U next competes at the Viking Cross Country Classic on Saturday, Oct. 4.
Texas-Pan American Broncs
The Broncs men’s and women’s cross country teams finished fourth at the Islander Splash this Friday at West Guth Park… freshman Jennifer Zapata paced the women’s team finishing in eighth place out of 47 runners as she posted a time of 18:40.7 in the 5k race…fellow freshman Teresa Sova finished behind Zapata finishing 20th with a time of 19:54.8 and Savanna Antley posting a time of 20:02.7 finishing 23rd… on the men’s side Jose Juan Wells came in third to lead the men with a time of 26:12.7 in the 8k race… freshman Leo Dominguez posted a time of 27:06.1 as he finished in 19th place and teammate Rick Montero finished shortly behind him in 31st with a time of 28:24.6… UTPA competed against runners from Houston, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Sam Houston State, Texas Southern and Prairie View A&M…the Broncs will travel next to Fayetteville, Ark. As they compete in the 26th Annual Chile Pepper Festival on Oct. 4.
Utah Valley Wolverines
The Utah Valley women’s cross country team had an exceptional weekend taking a first place team finish at the UNLV Invitational on Friday… freshman McKayla Morgan led the Wolverines finishing second overall with a time of 17:41.5 on the 5k course… she was followed by Ivie Gonzalves (17:41.9), Darian Sharp (17:42.1) and McKayla Stepp (17.48.8)… the men’s team finished in second behind SUU as Tyson Lambert led the men with a fourth place finish overall at a time of 19:24.9… Lambert was followed by Trac Norris (19:25.2), Logan Petty (19:25.2), Brenden Emery (19:25.8), Seth Gutzwiller (19:26.3) and Chris Bower (19:39.2)…the top 5 Utah Valley men had a 2.4 second split and finished 4th-8th places respectively on the 6.3k course… next weekend the Wolverines travel to SUU, where most of the younger runners will compete…the top performers will rest and then compete again in two weeks at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational in Sunnyvale, Calif.
UTAH VALLEY MEN EARN WEEKLY REGIONAL RECOGNITION - SEPT. 29
The Utah Valley men’s cross country team earned USTFCCCA recognition after being ranked in the top 15 of the regional rankings.
Utah Valley appeared in the men’s Mountain Region rankings placing 14th.
USTFCCCA Regional Cross Country Rankings are determined subjectively by a single member coach in each respective region. The regional representative is tasked with weighing returning team strength with current-season results in determining predicted team finishes at the NCAA Regional Championships.
FRERICHS HEADLINES CROSS COUNTRY NATIONAL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK - SEPT. 15
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced Monday afternoon its National Athletes of the Week for this past weekend of college cross country action. Of them, UMKC’s Courtney Frerichs was selected as the Division 1 female honoree.
National Athlete of the Week is an award selected and presented by the USTFCCCA Communications Staff at the beginning of each week to six collegiate cross country athletes (male and female for each of the three NCAA divisions).
Nominations are open to the public. Coaches and sports information directors are encouraged to nominate their student-athletes; as are student-athletes, their families and friends, and fans of their programs.
The award seeks to highlight not only the very best times, marks and scores on a week-to-week basis, but also performances that were significant on the national landscape and/or the latest in a series of strong outings. Quality of competition, suspenseful finishes and other factors will also play a role in the decision.
WAC CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2014 WAC Cross Country Championship travels to Edinburg, Texas. This year’s championships will be hosted by the University of Texas-Pan American and will take place at the Palm View Golf Course. The Utah Valley men will look to win a second-consecutive WAC title. Idaho claimed the women’s title last season.
November 1, 2014
Location: Edinburg, Texas
Host: UTPA
Course: Palm View Golf Course
Admission: Free
NCAA REGIONALS
The 2014 Cross Country Regionals will be held at nine sites throughout the country on Friday, Nov. 14. WAC teams will be represented in four locations. The West Region will be held in Palo Alto, Calif., (Stanford). The Mountain Region will be held in Albuquerque, N.M. (New Mexico), the South Central Regional (Arkansas) will take place in Fayetteville, Ark., and the Midwest Region (Bradley) will take place in Peoria, Ill.
November 14, 2014
Great Lakes: University of Wisconsin
Mid-Atlantic: Pennsylvania State University
Midwest: Bradley University
Mountain: University of New Mexico
Northeast: Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
South: Florida State University
South Central: University of Arkansas
Southeast: University of Louisville
West: Stanford University
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 2014 Cross Country National Championships will take place in Terre Haute, Ind. The race will take place at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center.
November 22, 2014
Wabash Valley Family Sports Center
599 S. Tabortown Rd.
Terre Haute IN 47803 USA
Phone: 812-877-1388