Nov. 9, 2016
SAN DIEGO -
The San Diego State cross country team visits California's capital for the NCAA West Regional Fri., Nov. 11. Held at Sacramento's Haggin Oaks Golf Complex, the women's race is set to begin at 11 a.m.
The top-two teams in the NCAA West Regional and the top-four individuals not on qualifying teams will advance to the NCAA Championships Nov. 19 in Terre Haute, Ind. The west regional is one of nine regionals that will be competing on Friday as 18 teams and 36 individuals will automatically advance. Another 13 teams and two individuals will be chosen by an NCAA subcommittee on Saturday for the additional at-large selections.
The Aztecs are one of 38 teams that have entered Friday's meet. Five of the 38 teams are nationally ranked, including No. 4 Washington, No. 7 Stanford, No. 11 Oregon, No. 16 San Francisco and No. 27 California.
The Aztecs have had a strong season this year, posting two wins in their last four races and finishing in the top five in two additional races. They have been led this season by seniors Christine Kent and Elaine Ribiero, who have finished 1-2 on the team in four of five races this year. Each has earned a second-place finish (Kent - Highlander Invitational; Ribiero - Aztec Invitational) in one race during the season.
SDSU is coming off of its third-best Mountain West Cross Country Championship 6K team time in 17 years with its ninth-place finish. Kent was the Aztecs' top finisher at the race, running the course in 21:40.60 for 34th place. Earning a season-best time was junior Lily Seynaeve, who finished 50th with a 22:10.40 time. Ribeiro was 65th with her 22:39.10 time, while Cassidy Towner's 22:55.70 time was 70th. Angel Bucci (78th, 23:44.00) and Cali King (79th, 23:46.80) were the team's No. 5 and 6 runners.
At the NCAA West Regional last season, the Scarlet and Black finished 25th, led by Ribeiro, who took 87th out of 242 runners with a 6,000-meter time of 22 minutes, 15.1 seconds. Rachel Roesgen was the second San Diego State runner to cross the finish line, taking 115th in 22:25.7. Grace Hanshaw followed closely behind to finish 133rd at 22:38.5. Towner was 155th in 22:57.3, while King (197th, 23:39.9) and Hannah Sawatzki (233rd, 24:41.8) also competed for the Aztecs.
Entered into this year's race for SDSU are Bucci, Kent, King, Ribeiro, Lily Seynaeve and Towner.
Final results from the NCAA West Regional will be posted at http://www.rtspt.com/events/ncaa/d1westxc16/ and later on GoAztecs.com.