Yellowjackets Run at Western Regional's (Nov. 4, 2004)

BELLINGHAM, WA- The Yellowjacket men’s and women’s cross country teams head to Bellingham, Washington this weekend where they will compete at the NCAA Western Regional meet.  This meet will serve as a qualifier for Nationals held November 20^th at Southern Indiana.

Several Western teams are ranked nationally.  Cal State Chico is ranked second nationally with UC San Diego and Central Washington ranking 11^th and 24^th respectively.  BYU-Hawaii men and women recently swept the PacWest Conference championship team competition held at Riverfront Park with Seasider Chelsea Smith winning the women’s race in under seventeen minutes. 

Heidi Robertson (Sr., Great Falls, MT) finished second at the PacWest Conference meet with Sarah Lord (Jr., Billings, MT) finishing third and Chelsea Lynnes (Sr., Miles City, MT) rounding out the top five racers.  Sam Hartpence (So., Custer, SD) was the top finisher for the Yellowjacket men placing seventeenth.  “We are coming off our season’s best performances at the Conference championships and both the men’s and women’s teams have improved their times dramatically over the past three weeks,” said head coach Dave Coppock.  The women finished second in the team competition to BYUH and have a good chance individually to advance onto the NCAA All-Region team.  Our top three runners are peaking at the right time and if they run at their potential, then we have a good chance of continuing on to Nationals,” he also added.

The last time MSUB had runners on the All-Region team was 1997 when Laura Swogger, Christy Cormier and Sarah Graves ran to a 6^th, 7^th and 14^th place finish respectively.

Cal State Chico is the pre-meet favorite to win both the men’s and women’s team titles.  The women are the defending champions and the men are ranked fourth nationally.  Ranked 11^th UC San Diego and number 19^th ranked Cal Poly Pamona are expected to be Cal State Chico’s toughest competition.  Seattle Pacific and Alaska-Anchorage could challenge for a national berth.

The men’s 10-kilometer race starts at 10:30 A.M. pacific time, followed by the women’s 6-kilometer race at 11:45 A.M. pacific time.  The top three teams in both the men’s and women’s competition advance to the national championships at Southern Indiana on November 20^th.  The top two individuals from non-qualifying teams will also advance to nationals.  There is a provision for any individual from a non-qualifying team that places in the top five may also compete at the national competition.