Washington women officially get an at-large entry into NCAA XC championships...

INDIANAPOLIS--The NCAA Saturday announced the teams and individuals who will compete at next Saturday's NCAA Division I cross country championships in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The Gonzaga men's squad, which finished second at Friday's West regionals in Sacramento, along with Rosina Machu from the women's team, who finished fourth in the race, earned an automatic berth in the meet.

Pac-12 women's champ Washington (Paul Merca photo), which finished third at the regionals behind auto qualifiers Stanford and Oregon, earned an at-large berth out of the West region, along with fourth place team finisher Cal Baptist, which left fifth place Gonzaga on the outside.

The Dawgs have qualified for nationals all six seasons under Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Maurica Powell, and extended its streak that dates back to 2007.

 

On the men's side, Washington, which was ranked 22nd in the country after finishing second at the Pac-12s two weeks ago, finished fifth at regionals with 129 points, four points out of third, with unranked Portland winning the tiebreaker for third over fourth-ranked Cal Baptist.

The fifth place finish, along with a 27th place finish at the Nuttycombe in Wisconsin last month, probably cost the Huskies a chance to return to nationals. By beating Cal Baptist, both Gonzaga and Portland jumped the Huskies in ranking points earned towards qualifying for nationals.

The NCAA release is available here.

RESULTS FROM OTHER REGIONALS INVOLVING WASHINGTON ATHLETES...

Here's a quick recap of results from other regions Friday involving notable athletes with ties to the state of Washington.

At the Great Lakes regional in Madison, Wisconsin, Woodinville native Olivia Markezich of Notre Dame won her second straight regional title, covering the 6k course in 19:55.

Twin sister Andrea, who is a grad transfer for the Irish from the UW, was ninth in 20:38.

In Stillwater, Oklahoma, Lake Stevens native Taylor Roe of Oklahoma State finished second in the Midwest regional race, as she ran 20:30.

The Cowboys did not run Yakima native Jonas Price in the men's race. He finished ninth in the Big 12 championships two weeks ago.

In the Mountain regional in Lubbock, Texas, former Husky Sarah Carter of Colorado State was eighth in 19:46.

The teams of all the individuals qualified for next week's championships.

The link to results of all the regional championships contested is available here.

NOTE: The NCAA, the USTFCCCA, and the sports information offices of Gonzaga and Washington contributed to this report.

paulmerca.blogspot.com may receive a commission for any purchases made from links clicked. Please support this site and our sponsors by clicking on the links. You can also support the site by clicking the yellow "Buy Me A Coffee" link below.