THIS WEEK IN WAC CROSS COUNTRY
The Seattle U men took a first place victory at home this weekend while the women’s team finished strong in third place at the Emerald City Open. The WAC had a full weekend of competition with seven teams racing in preparation for the WAC Championships on Nov. 1st. While a majority of the teams will take a week off going in to the championships, Seattle U and Missouri-Kansas City will take advantage of one more weekend of racing this Friday.
UTAH VALLEY MEN MOVE UP IN REGIONAL RANKINGS - OCT. 20
The Utah Valley men’s cross country team moved up to spots in the Mountain Regional rankings after being ranked 14th two weeks before.
Utah Valley appeared in the men’s Mountain Region rankings placing 12th.
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.
TEAM NOTES
Bakersfield Roadrunners
Bakersfield went head to head with Cal Poly this weekend in what was supposed to be the Cal Poly Invitational… LaShya Morgan finished first for Bakersfield and fifth overall in the dual meet which Cal Poly won by a score of 19-36… in her tenth collegiate and tenth consecutive race leading the ‘Runners, Morgan finished the 5k course with a time of 19:47.4… For the second straight week, freshman Angel Valdez finished second for Bakersfield and was seventh overall with a time of 20:16.4. Megan Thompson was the third ‘Runner to cross the line (20:43.1) while Ariana Mariscal was 11th overall (21:15.8)… coming into the weekend, Cal Poly was ranked No. 10 in the West Region… Bakersfield will rest this weekend in preparation for the WAC Championships on Nov. 1st.
Chicago State Cougars
The Cougars competed at the Bradley Pink Classic this weekend in Peoria, Ill. where both the men’s and the women’s team finished behind the pack… the women’s team finished in 30th place overall and was led by senior Prisca Roys-Dossou and sophomore Victoria Tovar… Roys-Dossou placed 202nd overall with a time of 27:14.6 while her teammate Tovar finished 405th with a time of 28:24.5 in the women’s 5k race… on the men’s side the team earned a 26th place showing in their final regular season meet which was led by DiJon Smith, who finished as the Cougars’ top runner for the second time this season… Smith placed 158th overall with a time of 27:41.7 and his teammate De Shaunte Lewis finished 319th with a time of 27:53.6 in the men’s 8k race… the Cougars will not compete again until the WAC Championships in Edinburg, Texas on Nov. 1.
Grand Canyon Lopes
The Lopes competed at home this weekend for the Thunderbird Classic… the entire women’s squad earned new lifetime bests for their times in the 6k… junior Kelsi Klotter was the first finisher for the team with a time of 24:22.1… freshman Mariah Montoya finished next with a time of 22:05.4, followed by Lacey Peterson at 22:24.5… junior Rebekah Young and freshman Paige Momerak rounded out the team times… on the men’s team senior Brandon Kocmoud was the frontrunner for GCU in the event, finishing with a time of 24:22.1… fellow senior Tyler Vandyke was the team’s second finisher 24:35.6 while junior Matthew Jackson, freshman Chris Baker, and sophomore Samuel Proctor closed out the Lopes' top-five… the Lopes will not compete again until the WAC Championships in Edinburg, Texas on Nov. 1.
Kansas City Kangaroos
Missouri-Kansas City had an exceptional weekend at the ISU Pre-Nationals this weekend with an individual first place finish on the women’s side… Courtney took 1st out of 214 runners at Saturday’s race with a time of 20:55 in the women’s 6K run... other runners setting personal records included freshman Chandler Carreon finishing in 59th place with a time of 23:01 and sophomore Kelly Carpenter coming in 76th with her time of 23:11… Sarah Fogarty contributed as well running her best this season with a final time recorded at 23:34… on the men’s side the senior from Appleton, Wis., Taylor Wardall, finished 17th place for the ‘Roos recording a time of 25:56 in the men’s 8K race… following close behind was junior Kolton Sheldon crossing the finish line at 19th place with a personal record of 25:30… next to finish for the ‘Roos was Jason Fambrough coming in at 115th setting a personal best at 26:44… the ‘Roos will compete one last time this Friday at the Ottawa Invitational in Ottawa, Kans. before the cross country championships.
New Mexico State Aggies
The New Mexico State men’s and women’s cross country team finished their regular season competition after competing at the Santa Clara Bronco Invite on Saturday, Oct. 18 in Sunnyvale, Calif.… the men earned 14th place out of 23 teams in the 8K competition while the women notched 12th place as they competed against 21 teams in the 6K race… both the men’s and women’s teams came in second against Western Athletic Conference opponents behind Utah Valley and above Grand Canyon… senior Diana Hawk came in first for the Aggies at 25th overall for the women along with senior Hab Rubio who finished 35th overall for the men… Rubio, Hawk, senior Megan McNally, and freshman runners Crissey and Cassey Amberg all achieved personal records during the Bronco Invite... Tyler Forde also competed one of his best races on the weekend… the Aggies head into the WAC tournament as they travel to Edinburg, Texas to compete on Saturday, Nov. 1.
Seattle University Redhawks
The Seattle University women’s cross country team finished second among Division I schools and third among all teams at its annual home meet, the Emerald City Open... Sophie Curatilo picked up her second straight victory, winning the six-kilometer race by 10 seconds with a meet-record time of 21:42… Taylor de Laveaga also earned a top-10 finish, crossing the finish line in seventh place with a mark of 22:36… the men’s team earned its second victory of 2014, winning the Emerald City Open both overall and among Division I schools… Gus Arroyo finished third with a time of 26:15, followed by Baxter Arguinchona in fifth place in 26:25… for the second straight race, Joe Charbonneau, Matthew Seidel, and Collin Overbay finished one behind the other, occupying 14th through 16th places and separated by just seven seconds several spots on Seattle U’s travel squad for the WAC Championships were decided by order of finish at Saturday’s meet... the remaining spots will be decided when Seattle U participates in the Beaver Classic, hosted by the Corvallis Running Project Friday afternoon, Oct. 24.
Texas-Pan American Broncs
While the women’s team rested this weekend the UTPA men’s cross country team competed at the 26th Annual Chile Pepper Festival which was the third meet in three weeks for the Broncs… Jose Juan Wells led the men’s team to an 18th place finish as he took 134th out of 430 runners with a time of 26:13.4 in the men’s 8k race… the Broncs will be back in action on Saturday, Oct. 11th, as they travel to San Antonio, Texas for the UIW Invitational hosted by the University of the Incarnate Word… this will be the fourth meet in four weeks for the men’s team.
Utah Valley Wolverines
The UVU women took second place at the Color Country invitational only seven points behind Idaho State... they achieved this without three of their top runners who either did not compete or did not complete the race... Southern Utah University finished in third place almost twenty points behind the Wolverines... the race at SUU was a short 4K, and the Wolverines are better prepared for the 5K and 6K courses, and their depth came through to snag second place... junior Darian Sharp was right behind Stepp with a seventh place finish and a time of 15:43.2... the Utah Valley men finished in fourth place overall at the Bronco Invitational out of over 20 teams in a loaded field... they were bested only by nationall ranked No. 4 Oklahoma State and No. 7 Stanford, and regionally ranked No. 13 in the west Cal Poly... other notable racers include Chris Brower, Seth Gutzwiller, Logan Petty, and Trac Norris… the Wolverines head into the WAC tournament as they travel to Edinburg, Texas to compete on Saturday, Nov. 1.