Cougs and Zags to face off in opening race of The Course Spokane Valley at WCC champs...
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| From upper left: WSU's Solomon Kipchoge, Rosemary Longisa, and Gonzaga's Logan Hofstee (#714) and Logan Law/Paul Merca photos |
Washington's four remaining NCAA Division I schools toe the line Saturday to close out championship weekend.
Washington State, Seattle University, and host Gonzaga will meet in Spokane Valley for the first meet contested at The Course Spokane Valley, the West Coast's first dedicated cross country course, for the West Coast Conference championship meet.
The Washington State men's squad, fresh off an impressive sixth place finish at the Wisconsin Nuttycombe Invitational, are the heavy favorites to win the conference championship in their final season in the WCC, before they and host Gonzaga move to the Pac-12 next season.
At Nuttycombe, the eleventh-ranked Cougars were led by Solomon Kipchoge and Evans Kurui, who finished second and fifth, respectively.
They'll face off over the 8k distance against a Gonzaga squad who finished 18th at Nuttycombe led by Logan Law, who was 45th at that race.
The host Zags could make the meet interesting if they can run as a pack and finish ahead of Washington State's number three through seven runners, an area that the Cougs are potentially vulnerable.
Don't discount Portland, led by Yakima native Jonas Price, even though the Pilots finished 25th at Nuttycombe.
Price was the Pilots' top finisher in 20th at Wisconsin.
The women's 6k kicks off action at 10 am. Like the men's competition, it's expected to be a two way battle between Washington State, currently ranked 22nd in the USTFCCCA national coaches' poll, and Gonzaga at number 26, with Portland possibly in the mix to make it interesting.
The WSU women, led by Rosemary Longisa and Zenah Cheptoo, on paper, should go 1-2 at the WCC championships.
Longisa was third at the Nuttycombe Invitational two weeks ago, while Cheptoo was 21st.
The only question about the Cougars has to do with their 3-4-5 runners, Caroline Jepkorir, Kylah Madariaga, and Nicole Bissell, who were 72nd, 135th and 136th at Nuttycombe.
Jepkorir was 37 seconds behind Cheptoo at Nuttycombe, which could be a great opportunity for Gonzaga to pack some runners behind Cheptoo.
The Zags finished 16th at the Nuttycombe Invitational. They were led by Logan Hofstee, who finished 33rd. Jessica Frydenlund was next in 43rd place, followed by Willow Collins in 47th.
After their performance at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational two weeks ago against many of the teams who will be at the WCC championships, it's hard to imagine a scenario where both SeattleU teams gets out of the cellar, after moving to a tougher cross country conference than the Western Athletic Conference.
For those planning to attend the West Coast Conference championships, the venue is located at 2520 North Flora Road in Spokane Valley. Please note there is NO PARKING at the race course.
Parking for fans & spectators will be available for free at Spokane Valley Commons (2818 N Sullivan Road, Spokane Valley). Shuttles between this parking lot and the course will be available from 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. on race day. Despite the street address of the lot, vehicles should enter from Marietta Street instead.
The meet will be streamed on ESPN Plus ($). The link to live results is available here.
EAGLES HEAD TO MONTANA FOR BIG SKY CHAMPIONSHIPS...
Eastern Washington heads to Bozeman, Montana for the Big Sky Championships at Bridger Creek Golf Course, hosted by Montana State University Saturday.
The women's 5k race starts the meet off at 10 am Pacific (11 am local time), while the men's 8k gets underway 35 minutes later.
In their last meet, the Eastern men won the team race at the Linfield George Oja Invitational in McMinnville, Oregon against a D2/D3 field, and Portland's B squad.
Colorado transfer Conner Wirth and Marcus Lemon have been the team leaders so far this season.
At Linfield, the Eagles had a 1-5 split of 61 seconds, while at the UC Riverside Invitational at the end of September, they ran with a 1-5 split of 45 seconds against a tougher field.
The women's squad has Rylee Brandon and Nattie Ruzauskas driving the front of the Eagle pack.
Brandon led the way for Eastern Washington at the UC Riverside invitational, running 21:06 for 6k, while Ruzauskas was the lead runner at the Oja Invitational, running 21:18. The Eagles ran a 1-5 split of 47 seconds at the Oja Invitational, while at UC Riverside, they ran a 1-5 split of 41 seconds.
While neither team has a front runner that can contend with the front runners that squads like Northern Arizona, Weber State and Montana State have, their ability to run as a group should get them around the middle of the pack at the conference championships.
The meet will be streamed on ESPN Plus ($). The link to live results is available here.
NOTE: The West Coast Conference, the Big Sky Conference and the sports information offices of Washington State, Gonzaga, and Eastern Washington contributed to this report.
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