COLFAX, Wash. – The UC Santa Barbara Men's and Women's Cross Country teams will be competing in their last meet of the season at NCAA West Regionals on Friday, Nov. 15, hosted by Washington State. The women will be racing first in a 6K on the Colfax Golf Club course starting at 11:00 a.m., followed by the men competing in their first 10K race of the season at 12:00 p.m.
HOW TO ADVANCE
Across the country, nine different races will take place in different regions, with Santa Barbara competing in the West Region. In order to qualify for 2024 Cross Country Nationals, Santa Barbara needs to place in the top two of schools at West Regionals. The teams that will be competing against the Gauchos this Friday consist of the following:
Arizona (M, W), Boise State (M, W), Cal Poly (M, W), Cal State Fullerton (M, W), California (M, W), California Baptist (M, W), Cal State Northridge (M, W), Eastern Washington (M, W), Fresno State (W), Gonzaga (M, W), Grand Canyon (M), Hawaii (W), Idaho (M, W), Long Beach State (M, W), Loyola Marymount (W), Oregon (M, W), Oregon State (W), Pacific (W), Pepperdine (M, W), Portland (M, W), Portland State (M, W), Sacramento State (M, W), San Diego (M, W), San Diego State (M, W), San Francisco (M, W), Santa Clara (M, W), Seattle University (M, W), Saint Mary's (M, W), Stanford (M, W), UC Davis (M, W), UC Irvine (M, W), UC Riverside (M, W), UC San Diego (M, W), UCLA (M, W), UNLV (W), USC (W), Utah Tech (M, W), Washington (M, W), Washington State (M, W)
LAST MEET
Two weekends ago, both teams made it to Riverside for the Big West Championships, with the men placing 7th out of 9 teams and the women placing 8th of 11 schools. Four total athletes, two men and two women, recorded personal bests on the day. This included Sophia Gutierrez, who had ran a personal record earlier in the season, Ryann Strawn, Jake Ratkovich, and Parker Stickney.
Junior Ava Maier led the ladies in their race, placing 26th out of 99 individuals and posting a time of 21:00.4 on the 6K course. Sophomore Parker Simmons stole the spotlight for the men, once again leading the men on the 8K course with a time of 24:14.3, putting him in 15th overall.
CONDITIONS
The Gauchos will be up against chilly conditions late Friday morning with temperatures reaching a low of 33°F and a high of 43°F. Winds will pick up going into the men's race, ranging from five to eight miles-per-hour, and a 20% chance of rain might make the competition more interesting.
UP NEXT
If Santa Barbara performs well this Friday at West Regionals, Nationals in Madison, Wis. will be in the cards. UC Santa Barbara's Cross Country athletes will turn their attention toward the approaching Track and Field season in case the Gauchos do not qualify.
