THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
Monday, October 1
Louisiana Tech (W) at Northwestern Invitational, Natchitoches, La.
Saturday, October 6
Louisiana Tech at Centenary Invitational, Shreveport, La.
New Mexico State at Grand Canyon Invitational, Goodyear, Ariz.
San Jose State at Crystal Springs Invitational, Belmont, Calif.
WAC TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Idaho Vandals
The Idaho women finished fifth as a team at the Dellinger Invitational on Saturday after putting three runners in the top 25 of a field that included the nation's No. 3 team and three more regionally-ranked programs ... Idaho's men finished 10th at the Bill Dellinger Invitational while competing against a very strong field that included No. 3 BYU and then No. 23 Oregon and four more regionally-ranked teams ... the Vandals will next run on Saturday, Oct., 13 in the Inland Northwest Cross Country Classic and the NCAA Pre-Nationals.
Louisiana Tech
The Louisiana Tech men's cross country team finished in fourth place at the McNeese State Invitational in Lake Charles ... senior Matt Wolfe led the way for the Bulldogs for the second straight meet as Wolfe posted a time of 22:18, over the four mile course ... Alwayne Green, Jermaine Morris and Taylor Ashton posted times of 22:40, 22:46 and 22:49 respectively ... the next action for the Bulldogs will be October, 6th in Shreveport for the Centenary Invitational.
New Mexico State Aggies
The New Mexico State University cross country teams completed the Rim Rock Collegiate Invitational in Lawrence, Kan., on Saturday, Sept. 29th, with impressive team results in both events ... The women's team finished fifth overall with 138 points and the men's team finished sixth overall with 184 points ... senior Jonah Ruybalid finished first for NM State and 29th overall with a time of 24:45.90 in the 8K ... the women's race was highlighted by a second overall finish by senior Courtney Schultz who finished with a time of 20:30.90 ... senior Camille Schultz finished second for NM State and 16th overall with a time of 21:14.00 ... the combined results of the Schultz sisters helped NM State finish above some of the top programs in the region, including host Kansas, Kansas State, Texas Tech and Nebraska.
San Jose State Spartans
The SJSU men came in 28th place out of 29 at the Stanford Invitational on September 29 ... Matthew Stephens led the Spartans running the 8K course on the Stanford Golf Course in 27:02 ... the San Jose State women's cross country finished in 27th place out of 34 teams at the Stanford Invitational ... Aylin Mejia crossed the finish line first for the Spartans in 105th place with a time of 22:50 ... Rebecca Garcia followed in 119th with a time of 23:02 ... San Jose State is back in action on October 5 at the Crystal Springs Invitational in Belmont, Calif.
Seattle University Redhawks
The men's team posted a sixth-place finish at the Dellinger Invitational Saturday at the Springfield Country Club in Springfield, Ore. ... the Redhawks finished ahead of Sacramento State, UMass Amherst, UC Riverside, and conference foe Idaho ... The Seattle U women struggled overall at the Dellinger Invitational, finishing in seventh place in the team standings ... freshman Becca Lassere, one of the team's top runners in the early part of the season, was hurt during the race and did not complete the course ... head coach Trisha Steidl has vowed that the women will "regroup and be ready to fire on all cylinders in two weeks" at the Emerald City Open, Seattle U's annual home meet.
University of Texas at Arlington Mavericks
The Maverick men have two team wins and one second-place finish in three events ... seven UTA runners broke the 26-minute mark at Notre Dame ... for the third straight event UTA's top two finishers were true freshmen, Virgilio Martinez and Craig Lautenslager ... UTA is ranked 11th in the most recent USTFCCCA South Central regional rankings ... the UTA women placed fifth among 15 teams with a total of 168 points ... the Mavericks had two runners in the top 20 and four in the top 50 ... UTA is ranked 15th n the most recent USTFCCCA South Central regional rankings ... UTA does not return to action until the Chile Pepper Festival on Oct. 13.
UTSA Roadrunners
UTSA won its third consecutive meet behind sophomore Mike Medrano's third straight individual title at Saturday's Grass Routes Grand Prix ... the reigning WAC Athlete of the Week covered the 7.5K Hancock Golf Course loop in 25:22 and he now has been the Roadrunners' top finisher at all four of their meets this fall ... The Roadrunner women placed second to Texas at Saturday's Grass Routes Grand Prix in Austin ... two-time reigning WAC Athlete of the Week Alyssa Diaz led the way with her sixth-place finish and the junior now has paced UTSA at its last three outings ... The Roadrunners will take next weekend off before returning to the course on Saturday, Oct. 13, at the Chile Pepper Festival.
Texas State Bobcats
The Texas State men's team ran a 7.5K this past week at the Grass Routes Grand Prix ... the muddy conditions did not help the Bobcats, as they finished 10th out of 12 teams ... freshman Tyrone Jackson was the top Cat of the day with a time of 27:45 ... Texas State's women did not record a team score at the Grass Routes Grand Prix ... Michelle Jones and Esperanza Lopez were the 1-2 duo for the Cats for the third meet in a row ... Texas State will have one more tune-up before the conference championship.
Utah State Aggies
Utah State men's cross country junior Kyle McKenna placed 14th out of 143 runners with a time of 25:08.4 in the Merrill Fischbein Men's Gold eight-kilometer race at the 27th annual Roy Griak Invitational Saturday ... Alex Litzsinger led the USU women, crossing the finish line in 21st-place with a time of 21:56.0 in the Jack Johnson Women's Gold six-kilometer race ... as a team, the Utah State women finished in 11th-place with 310 points, while the Aggie men also placed 11th with 243 points ... action continues for the Utah State men and women's cross country teams at Pre-Nationals hosted by the University of Louisville on Saturday October 13 in Louisville, Ky.
WAC NOTES
Seattle U's Erick Barkhaus and New Mexico State's Courtney Schultz Have Been Named the Western Athletic Conference Men's and Women's Cross Country Athletes of the Week
Seattle U's Erik Barkhaus and New Mexico State's Courtney Schultz have been named the Western Athletic Conference men's and women's Cross Country Athletes of the Week, respectively, for Sept. 24-30.
Barkhaus, a redshirt senior from Whitefish Bay, Wis. (Whitefish Bay HS), earned another top 10 finish at a big meet, crossing the finish line in seventh place out of 101 runners at the Dellinger Invitational with a time of 23:56 over the 8K course. It was the first time he had run an 8K cross country race in under 24 minutes. He was just 18 seconds behind the race winner, and the only runners to finish ahead of him represented Oregon, BYU and Southern Utah.
Schultz, a senior from Cloudcroft, N.M. (Cloudcroft HS), posted one of her best career results when she finished second overall at the Rim Rock Collegiate Invitational with a time of 20:30.90, finishing just one second behind Rebecca Addison of Michigan on the 6K course. The race came down to a two person finish as the third-place finisher crossed the finish line 15 seconds behind Schultz, who became the second fastest runner to finish that particular course design.
Other Men's Nominees: Barry Britt, Idaho; Jonah Ruybalid, New Mexico State; Virgilio Martinez, UT Arlington; Mike Medrano, UTSA; Kyle McKenna, Utah State.
Other Women's Nominees: Hannah Kiser, Idaho; 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
