THIS WEEK IN THE WAC
Friday, September 12
Chicago State at Bradley Intercollegiate Peoria, Ill.
Kansas City at Forest Park XC Festival St. Louis, Mo.
Friday, September 12
Utah Valley at UC Riverside Invitational Riverside, Calif.
WEEK 1 RESULTS
Friday, September 5
Bakersfield at Fresno State Bulldog Invitational 5th/5
Saturday, September 6
New Mexico State at UNM Lobo Invite M-3rd/3, W-2nd/3
Grand Canyon at George Kyte Invitational M-4th/4, W-4th/4
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK, Sept. 3-9
New Mexico State’s Diana Hawk and Daniel Rubio have been named the Western Athletic Conference men’s and women’s Cross Country Athletes of the Week, respectively, for Sept. 2-8.
Hawk, a senior from Albuquerque, N.M. (El Dorado HS), finished seventh with a personal best time of 18:49.81at the Lobo Invitational 5k in Albuquerque, N.M. She led the Aggie’s to a second place team finish. Hawk has finished first for the Aggies for the first two meets of the season for New Mexico State: Texas Tech Triangular and the Lobo Invite.
Rubio, a senior from Port Townsend, Wash. (Port Townsend HS), finished sixth overall at the Lobo Invitational5k with a personal best time of 15:30.6. Rubio has also finished first for the Aggies for the first two meets of the season for New Mexico State.
Other Men’s Nominees: Grand Canyon… Senior Tyler Vandyke had an 11th place finish in the 4.5 mile race with a time of 23:32.4 in his first meet as a member of the GCU cross country team.
Other Women’s Nominees: Grand Canyon… Junior Kelsi Klotter finished 14th overall with a time of 16:23.5 for her 2.6 mile race. She put up an average pace of 6:18.3 which was 12 seconds faster than her average pace in the same race last season.
TEAM NOTES
Bakersfield Roadrunners
Bakersfield’s sophomore LaShya Morgan led the ‘Runners for the seventh straight competition dating back to her first collegiate race in 2013… Morgan finished the 4k Fresno State Invitational in 27th place overall with a time of 16:02.8… all of Bakersfield’s scoring five finished in the top-40 out of 66 runners… freshman Angel Valdez finished second for the ‘Runners in 32nd place with a time of 16:22.2… while the ‘Runners struggled to keep pace with the top teams, Bakersfield’s overall result was positive finishing fifth among the five NCAA Division I teams and fifth overall in a field of eight squads… Bakersfield continues their season in Santa Clarita, Calif. at the Mustang Challenge on Sept. 20.
Chicago State Cougars
Chicago State kicked off their season at the UIC Opener in Romeoville, Ill on Aug. 30… senior DeShaunte Lewis turned in a solid performance finishing 8th overall in a field of 34 on the muddy 5.88K men’s course… Teammate DiJon Smith helped the Cougars finishing 18th overall… In the women’s 4.08k the Cougars were led by senior Oslyn Collins, making her return from a 6 month recovery from a stress fracture, with an 18th-place finish out of 52 runners… Prisca Roys-Dossou also put in a strong showing with her 25th place finish after sitting out the 2013 season due to an injury rehab… The Cougars compete this weekend at the Bradley Intercollegiate in Peoria, Ill. on Sept.12.
Grand Canyon Lopes
Grand Canyon opened their 2014 season this weekend at the George Kyte Invitational in Flagstaff, Ariz…. The women’s team finished fourth in the meet, but improved on their average pace from last season at the George Kyte Classic… junior Kelsi Klotter paced the team, earning 14th in the meet with a time of 16:23.5…not far behind her teammate was freshman Mariah Montoya who placed 16th overall with a time of 16:32.2… rounding out the top-20 were Paige Momerak (16:43.6), Kendra Altman (16:45.8) and Lacey Peterson (16:46.2) to place 18th through 20th, respectively…the men’s team earned a fourth place finish in the race… senior Tyler Vandyke led the team with a time of 23:32.4 to place 11th overall, while senior Brandon Kocmoud earned a 13th place finish with a time of 23:49.4… teammate Mathew Jackson also posted a top-20 finish in his first meet with the Lopes finishing 19th overall with a time of 24:34.5.
Kansas City Kangaroos
The ‘Roos opened their 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 Wildwood, Mo. native, Kelly Carpenter who finished fifth overall with a time of 19:36.3 .... freshman Chandler Carreon, finished 10th with a time of 20:00.3 followed by Sarah Fogarty who finished 12th with a time of 20:01.3 … the Kansas City men were led by the junior from Raytown, Mo., Kolton Sheldon placing fifth with a time of 19:50.1 ... Dirk Hudson and Griffin Humphreys came in at times 19:54.9 and 20:10.5, respectively ... the UMKC cross country teams lace up this Saturday at the Forest Park Cross Country Festival in St. Louis, Mo.
New Mexico State Aggies
The New Mexico State cross country team saw success at the UNM Lobo Invitational on Sat., Sept. 6… in the 5k meet, senior Diana Hawk led the women’s team to a second place finish with a personal best time of 18:49.81 at seventh place overall… freshman runner Crissey Amberg followed Hawk’s lead for the team, finishing 14th overall with a time of 19:42.19… senior Megan McNally finished 17th overall… the men’s team was led by Hab Rubio who also completed a personal best time of 15:30.60 placing sixth overall… senior Nathan Starr followed Rubio for the Aggies with a time of 15:53.54… freshman runners Jerme Santistevan and Tyler Forde placed 17th and 19th overall… the Aggies will host the Kachina Classic on Sat., Sept. 20.
Seattle University Redhawks
The Seattle University cross country opened the 2014 season on Aug. 29 with the UW/SU Open at Magnuson Park in Seattle ... the Seattle University women’s cross country team was able to slide past Washington, 26-29 … sophomore Lila Rice led the Redhawks with a fourth place finish posting a time of 16:58.76 over the three-mile course. ... junior Emily Hedberg also earned a top-10 finish, crossing the finish line in ninth place overall with a time of 17:47.90 ... despite losing on the scoreboard to Washington, the Seattle University men’s cross country team put together a strong performance at the season-opener … junior Gus Arroyo finished fifth with a time of 22:19.10 over the 4.5-mile course which is1:45 faster than the mark he posted at this event two years ago ... redshirt junior Baxter Arguinchona also earned a top-20 performance, crossing the finish line in 19th place with a time of 23:09.42 ... the Redhawks have a week break before they compete Saturday, Sept. 20, at the Sundodger Invitational, hosted by the University of Washington 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 Friday Aug. 20 where they ran against Texas A&M-University Corpus Christi ... junior Jose Juan Wells and graduate student Luis Serrano led the Broncs finishing in second and third respectively ... Wells posted a time of 15:30 in the 5K while Serrano finished with a time of 15:37 ... the Broncs had seven men make their collegiate cross country debuts at the RGV Relays: David Montalvo, Rick Montero, Ricardo Granados, Leo Dominguez, Mario Guerrero, Martin Perez and Miguel Garza ... on the women’s side the Broncs competed in a 3k race to kick off their season … Jennifer Zapata, Alexandria Munoz, Teresa Sova and Roxanna Vidaurri each made their collegiate cross country debuts ... the UTPA cross country teams head to College Station, Texas for the Texas A&M Invitational on Saturday Sept. 20.
Utah Valley Wolverines
Utah Valley opened their season on Aug. 30 at the Utah State Invitational, with both squads placing in the top three teams ... the UVU women took second at the season-opening USU Invitational with a total of 45 points on the 3.3 mile course ... junior Darian Sharp led the UVU women at the season-opening USU Invitational by taking fifth overall with a time of 19:34.38 … teammates McKayla Morgan took seventh (19:42.99), Ivie Gonsalves eighth (19:43.54), Jasmine Newbitt 11th (20:01.12) and McKenzie Snyder 14th (20:08.34) … the UVU men finished in third place at the 4.25-mile USU Invite with 53 points … redshirt freshman Tyson Lambert led the Wolverine men at the season opener by taking eighth overall with a time of 21:17.83 marking Lambert’s first official collegiate race … Seth Gutzwiller followed in 11th (21:40.21), Chris Brower 12th (21:43.41), Logan Petty 13th (21:47.71) and Rush Mills 14th (21:52.39) … both the Wolverine men and women will be back in action this Saturday, Sept. 13 at the UC Riverside Invitational in Riverside, California.
THIS WEEK IN WAC CROSS COUNTRY
Grand Canyon kicked off their 2014 season last weekend at the George Kyte Invitational in Flagstaff, Ariz. Bakersfield and New Mexico State were also in action last weekendat the Fresno State Bulldog Invitational and UNM Lobo Invite. This weekend we will see Chicago State, Kansas City, New Mexico State, and Utah Valley back in action. Texas-Pan American, Seattle U, Grand Canyon and Bakersfield do not compete until the following week.
UTAH VALLEY EARNS PRESEASON RECOGNITION
The Utah Valley men’s cross country team earned preseason recognition after being ranked in the top 15 of the regional rankings by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Utah Valley appeared in the men’s Mountain Region rankings placing 14th.
The WAC Cross Country Championship will take place in Edingburg, Texas on Saturday, Nov. 1. The NCAA Division I Regional Championships will be held around the country Friday, Nov.14.
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.
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