THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
Friday, September 28
UT Arlington at Notre Dame Invitational, South Bend, Ind.
Saturday, September 29
Utah State at Griak Invitational, Twin Cities, Minn.
Texas State at Grass Routes, Grand Prix Austin, Texas
UTSA at Grass Routes Grand Prix, Austin, Texas
Louisiana Tech (M) at McNeese Invitational, Lake Charles, La.
New Mexico State at Rim Rock Invitational, Lawrence, Kan.
San Jose State at Stanford Invitaional, Stanford, Calif.
Idaho at Dellinger Invitational, Springfield, Ore.
Seattle U at Dellinger Invitational, Springfield, Ore.
WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Idaho Vandals
The Idaho women put two runners in the top eight, including the top collegian, at the Sundodger Invitational, hosted by No. 1 Washington, on Sept. 15 ... three freshmen finished in Idaho's top five as two of Idaho's upperclassmen battled illness at the race ... the Vandal men took third as a team at the Sundodger Invitational on Saturday ... senior Barry Britt broke Idaho's school record for the course, while freshman Santos Vargas broke Idaho's freshman record over that distance with a time of 24:53.39 ... three of Idaho's top five finishers at the meet were freshmen.
Louisiana Tech
The Louisiana Tech men's and women's cross country teams opened the 2012 season on Sept. 15, as they hosted the annual Mook 4 meet at Lincoln Parish Park in Ruston ... Matt Wolfe led the way for the Bulldogs as he finished 10th overall and posted a time of 20:04 ... Mary Kate Hays who placed 15th overall with a time of 14:30 led the women ... The next action for the Bulldogs will be Sept. 29 when they travel to Lake Charles for the McNeese Invitational. The Techsters will also be in action that weekend as they compete in the Northwestern Invitation on Oct. 1.
New Mexico State Aggies
This was the second-straight year the Aggie women have won the Kachina Classic ... Senior sisters Courtney and Camille Schultz finished their last Kachina Classic as an Aggie by finishing second and third overall ... the men's squad placed second to UTEP with only one point separating the two teams ... senior brothers Jonah and Ian Ruybalid finished third and fourth overall with only one-tenth of a second separating the two ... The Aggies have the next week off before traveling to Lawrence, Kan., for the Rim Rock Collegiate Invite on Saturday, Sept. 29.
The San Jose State women's cross country team finished in fifth place out of seven teams at the Aztec Invitational in San Diego, Calif., as part of the second leg of a back -to-back schedule ... Jessica Ponce, Hannah McClintock and Lourdes Amante competed in the San Francisco State Invitational on Sept. 14 ... Mueen Ghoury led the San Jose State men's cross country team with a second place finish in a dual meet with CSU Northridge at the Aztec Invitational on Sept. 15 ... San Jose State has two weeks to prepare for their next race at the Stanford Invitational on Sept. 29.
Seattle University Redhawks
The Seattle University cross country teams did not compete this past weekend, continuing their preparation for the Bill Dellinger Invitational Saturday, Sept. 29, in Springfield, Ore., starting at 10:30 a.m. ... the women's race will be five kilometers, with the men's race eight kilometers in length ... the University of Oregon will host the meet, with several schools in the West expected to take part in the annual event ... the Redhawks will see conference foe Idaho in this meet.
University of Texas at Arlington Mavericks
The UTA women won its first meet of the year with a total of just 32 points ... all five UTA runners finished among the meet's top 10 ... UTA is ranked in the most recent USTFCCCA regional rankings ... the women posted a perfect score of 15 for the second straight week by taking the top five spots at the meet ... this time the Mavericks held down the top seven, eight of the first nine and nine of the top 11 positions ... for the second straight week UTA's top two finishers were true freshmen, Virgilio Martinez and Craig Lautenslager ... UTA will return to action at the Notre Dame Invitational on Friday, Sept. 28.
UTSA Roadrunners
The Roadrunner men and women successfully defended their team championship Sept. 14, at the UTSA Ricardo Romo Classic ... UTSA claimed the top two spots on the individual leaderboard (six of top seven overall) en route to 18 points ... leading the way was sophomore Mike Medrano, who won his second individual title in as many weeks ... UTSA women claimed three of the top four spots on the podium en route to a team score of 19 points ... junior Alyssa Diaz won her second individual title in as many weeks ... the Roadrunners will next be in action on Saturday, Sept. 29, at the Grass Routes Grand Prix in Austin.
Texas State Bobcats
The Texas State women's team placed 10th at the Rice Invitational on Friday, Sept. 14 ... junior Michelle Jones was the first Bobcat to cross the line, as she had a time of 13:00.0 ... the Texas State men's team performed well this week, but they still have a ways to go before championship time ... freshman Tyrone Jackson led the men's squad in the 6K with a time of 18:25 ... the men will need to get healthy and continue to improve as a team to remain competitive ... the Bobcats will take next weekend off and have two meets left before the conference championship.
Utah State Aggies
Utah State's men and women's cross country teams will compete in the 27th annual Roy Griak Invitational hosted by the University of Minnesota at the Les Bolstad Golf Course in Falcon Heights, Minn. on Saturday Sept. 29 ... the Aggie men come into the week ranked 10th in the Mountain Region according to the latest ranking released by the United State Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) ... USU's women also rank 14th in the Mountain Region.
WAC NOTES
UTSA's Mike Medrano and Alyssa Diaz Have Been Named the Western Athletic Conference Men's and Women's Cross Country Athletes of the Week
UTSA's Mike Medrano and Alyssa Diaz have been named the Western Athletic Conference men's and women's Cross Country Athletes of the Week, respectively, for Sept. 10-17.
Medrano, a sophomore from Mission, Texas (Sharyland HS), helped the Roadrunners successfully defend their UTSA Ricardo Romo Classic title on Friday with his second individual victory in as many weeks. He tackled the water-logged 5,000-meter course in 15:31.7, as UTSA saw six of its runners place in the top seven.
Diaz, a junior from Hereford, Texas, (Hereford HS), the reigning WAC Athlete of the Week, raced to her second victory in as many weeks at Friday's UTSA Ricardo Romo Classic. She covered the soggy 5,000-meter loop in 18:04, as UTSA successfully defended its team title.
Other Men's Nominees: Barry Britt, Idaho; Jonah Ruybalid, New Mexico State; Erik Barkhaus, Seattle U; Virgilio Martinez, UT Arlington; Kyle McKenna, Utah State.
Other Women's Nominees: Hannah Kiser, Idaho; Courtney Schultz, New Mexico State; Hannah Mittelstaedt, Seattle U; Michelle Jones, Texas State, Hannah Nilsson, UT Arlington; Alex Litzsinger, Utah State.
WAC CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2012 WAC Cross Country Championship travels to Ruston, Louisiana. This year's championships will be hosted by Louisiana Tech University and will take place at the Lincoln Parish Park Course on Saturday, Oct. 27. The Utah State men and Idaho women claimed the championships last year.
October 27, 2012
Ruston, Louisiana
Host: Louisiana Tech
Course: Lincoln Parish Park
Admission: Free
NCAA REGIONALS
The 2012 Cross Country Regionals will be held at nine sites throughout the country, Friday, Nov. 9. WAC teams will be represented in three locations. The West Region will be held in Seattle, Wash., (Washington). The Mountain Region will be held in Fort Collins, Colo., (Colorado State), while the South Central Regional (Arkansas) will take place in Fayetteville, Ark.
November 09, 2012
Great Lakes Region - Wisconsin
Mid Atlantic Region - Penn State
Midwest Region - Missouri State
Mountain Region - Colorado State
Northeast Region - Fairfield
South Region - Florida State
South Central Region - Arkansas
Southeast Region - Charlotte
West Region - Washington
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 2012 Cross Country National Championships once again travels to Louisville, Ky. The race will take place at E.P. "Tom Sawyer" State Park.
November 17, 2012
E.P. "Tom Sawyer" State Park
3000 Freys Hill Road
Louisville, KY 40241-2132
Ticket Info: 502/852-515
