Complete Release in PDF
ON TO REGIONALS
After the Kansas City men and NM State women claimed the 2017 WAC Cross Country titles on Oct. 28 in Las Cruces, N.M., the harriers of the WAC turn their attention towards NCAA Regionals this Friday, Nov. 10. CSU Bakersfield, Grand Canyon and Seattle U will compete in the West Regional hosted by Washington in Seattle, while Chicago State and Kansas City will participate in the Midwest Regional, hosted by Iowa State in Ames, Iowa. NM State and Utah Valley will travel to Logan, Utah, for the Mountain Regional at Utah State, and UT Rio Grande Valley will participate in the South Central Regional at Texas A&M in College Station, Texas.
KANSAS CITY, MILLER WIN WAC MEN'S TITLES
Kansas City senior Bryce Miller repeated as the individual champion and the Roos, who tied with Utah Valley with 47 points, repeated as team champions, winning the 2017 WAC Men's Cross Country Championship at the NMSU Golf Course in Las Cruces, N.M. last Saturday. The NCAA tiebreaker rule was used, which compares, in order, the place finish of each of the five scoring members of the tied teams. The team with the majority of winning comparisons shall be awarded the higher place. In the end, UMKC's first-, fourth- and fifth-place finishers helped the Roos win the tiebreaker, 3-2, and repeat as team champions for the second-consecutive year.
Miller covered the 8,000-meter course in 23:47 to win his second-consecutive WAC cross country title. Utah Valley's Tyson Lambert took second with a time of 23:55, followed by teammates Kevin Lynch and Anthony Ocegueda in third and fourth place in times of 24:07 and 24:10, respectively. NM State's Aaron Valenzuela rounded out the top five with a time of 24:13.
NM STATE, KANSAS CITY'S JERMAN WIN WAC WOMEN'S TITLES
Placing two runners in the top four, the NM State women won their first WAC Cross Country title since 2009 as there was also a tie on the women's side for the top spot and the Aggies' UMKC's first-, second- and third-place finishers helped NM State win the tiebreaker, 3-2, over Utah Valley. Kansas City's Mia Jerman won the individual title in a time of 16:56.
The Aggies were led by a second-place finish from senior Crissey Amberg, who covered the 5,000-meter course in 17:02, while Utah Valley's Savannah Berry finished in third place with a time of 17:11. The Aggies' Julia Yescas placed fourth with a time of 17:16, while Kansas City's Sarah Fogarty rounded out the top five with a time of 17:18.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 2017 Cross Country National Championships will take place in Louisville, Ky., on Nov. 18, and is hosted by Louisville. The race will take place at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park.
SIX WAC CROSS COUNTRY TEAMS EARN USTFCCCA ALL-ACADEMIC HONORS
Two men's and four women's cross country teams from around the WAC were honored by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) as All-Academic Teams. The 2016 WAC Cross Country champion Kansas City men's team was one of two WAC teams honored after posting a 3.40 grade-point average. Seattle U was also recognized as the Redhawks held a 3.39 GPA.
On the women's side, Seattle U led all WAC schools with an impressive 3.66 team GPA. The Kansas City women were honored with a 3.52 GPA while NM State (3.49 GPA) and UT Rio Grande Valley (3.07 GPA) also received All-Academic honors.
Overall, there were 431 teams that earned distinction from the USTFCCCA for their efforts both athletically and academically. Of those 431 teams, 242 were women's and 189 were men's.