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WAC ATHLETE OF THE WEEK ANNOUNCED
CSU Bakersfield's Angel Valdez has been named the Western Athletic Conference women's Cross Country Athlete of the Week for Sept. 4-10.
A senior from Bakersfield, Calif., Valdez placed sixth out of 48 runners at the Fresno State Invitational last weekend. She finished the 5k course with a time of 18:18.2, making it her personal best and officially ranking third on CSUB's Top 10 list. It was a full 21 seconds better than her previous best of 18:40, which she ran at the 2016 WAC Championships. After leading CSUB in the first meet of the season and again on Saturday, Valdez has now paced the ‘Runners in 12 straight meets, setting the school's Division I record for most consecutive races leading the team.
Other Nominees: NM State's Corinne Hanson took fifth out of 22 runners at the Lori Fitzgerald Open with a time of 18:55.7 in the 4,661 meter race.
FIVE TEAMS IN ACTION THIS WEEKEND
Five WAC teams are in action this weekend, as Chicago State travels to Peoria for the Bradley Intercollegiate on Friday, while Grand Canyon heads south to Tucson, Ariz., for the Dave Murray Invitational on Friday. On Saturday, Seattle U travels to Washington for the Sundogger Invitational, while NM State hosts the Kachina Classic and Utah Valley travels to the UC Riverside Invitational.
REGIONALLY RANKED
Three men's teams and two women's team are listed in the Sept. 11 USTFCCCA Regional Cross Country rankings. The UMKC men are ranked 14th in the Midwest Region. In the Mountain Region, NM State is ranked 13th, just ahead of Utah Valley in 14th. On the women's side, Utah Valley is ranked 15th in the Mountain Region, while UT Rio Grande Valley is ranked 15th in the South Central Region.
WAC CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 2017 WAC Cross Country Championships are in Las Cruces, N.M. and will be hosted by NM State. The event will take place at the NMSU Golf Course. The Kansas City men look to repeat as champions while the Utah Valley women will attempt a three-peat.
NCAA REGIONALS
The 2017 Cross Country Regionals will be held at nine sites throughout the country on Friday, Nov. 10. WAC teams will be represented in four locations. The West Region will be held in Seattle (Host: Washington), the Mountain Region will be held in Logan, Utah (Host: Utah State), the South Central Regional will take place in College Station, Texas (Host: Texas A&M) and the Midwest Region will take place in Ames, Iowa (Host: Iowa State).
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.