United Athletic Conference

Seattle U's Nathan Pixler and UT Rio Grande Valley's Thalia Polanco have been named the Western Athletic Conference men's and women's Cross Country Athletes of the Week, respectively, for Sept. 3 - 9.

 

Pixler, a sophomore from Sammamish, Wash., led the Redhawks in his Seattle U debut, placing 22nd at the Sundodger Invitational. He finished the 8,000-meter course in 25:42.70 to finish middle of the pack amongst runners from several nationally-ranked teams. As a team, the Redhawks were fourth. 

 

Polanco, a senior from Lyford, Texas, finished 51st in the 4,000-meter race at the Norry Hersey Rice Invitational in Houston. She covered the course in 16:04 to lead the UTRGV women to a 10th-place team finish.

 

Other Men's Nominees: UT Rio Grande Valley's Alexandre Moret made his UTRGV debut at the Norry Hersey Rice Invitational, finishing 24th in a time of 21:06.9 over the 4-mile course.

 

Other Women's Nominees: Seattle U's Rachel Kastama was the top finishing Redhawk at the Sundodger Invitational, placing 40th in the 6,000-meter race with a time of 23:46.30.

 

Six of nine schools will be in action this week, including three at the UC Riverside Invitational. On Friday, Grand Canyon heads south to the Dave Murray Invitational in Tucson, Ariz. while Chicago State travels to the Bradley Intercollegiate in Peoria, Ill. On Saturday, California Baptist, CSU Bakersfield and UT Rio Grande Valley will all be at the UC Riverside Invitational while NM State hosts the Lori Fitzgerald Open in Las Cruces.

 

After two weeks of races, a pair of men's teams and three women's teams were listed in the USTFCCCA Regional Cross Country Rankings. The Kansas City men are 15th in the Midwest region and the Utah Valley men are 11th in the Mountain region. On the women's side, Utah Valley is 13th in the Mountain Region, UT Rio Grande Valley is 13th in the South Central region and California Baptist makes its Division I debut at 14th in the West region.

 

When UT Rio Grande Valley duo Abraham Chirchir and Mercy Chelangat won the Texas A&M Aggie Opener on Aug. 31, it marked the first time since prior to 2004 that UTRGV swept the men's and women's races at a meet. It was also UTRGV's first women's win since 2012.

 

The 2018 WAC Cross Country Championships are headed to Seattle and will be hosted by Seattle U. The event will take place at Jefferson Park Golf Course. The Kansas City men look for the three-peat as champions while the NM State women will look to defend their 2017 title.

 

The 2018 Cross Country Regionals will be held at nine sites throughout the country on Friday, Nov. 9. WAC teams will be represented in four locations. The West Region will be held in Sacramento (Host: Sacramento State), the Mountain Region will be held in Provo, Utah (Host: Brigham Young), the South Central Regional will take place in College Station, Texas (Host: Texas A&M) and the Midwest Region will take place in Peoria, Ill. (Host: Bradley). 

 

The 2018 Cross Country National Championships will take place in Madison, Wis. on Nov. 17, and is hosted by Wisconsin. The race will take place at Zimmer Championship Course.