XC | Gaels Look to Impress at NCAA West Regionals

MORAGA, Calif. – A host of runners from the Saint Mary's Men's and Women's Cross-Country teams will head to Washington this Friday, as they hope to land qualifiers for the NCAA Championships in Oklahoma later this month.

THE DETAILS
NCAA West Regional – Cross Country
Friday, November 11 at 10:00 am (women) and 11:00 am (men)
Chambers Creek Regional Park – University Place, Wash.
Live Results | Meet Website

LAST TIME OUT
The Gaels last hit the course two weeks ago at a wet and muddy WCC Championships. The rainy conditions in Portland made the course at Fernhill Park rather perilous, but the Gaels gutted out impressive performances against their conference foes.

The women's 6K got the action started Friday morning, as multiple Gaels got off to great starts. Rayna Stanziano jumped in the top ten early, running inside the top five within the opening three minutes of the race.

Her Gaels teammate Molly Dreher got off to a speedy start as well, hanging with Stanziano and the opening pack for the opening minutes of the race. Stanziano held steady in fifth through the halfway point of the race, as Dreher settled into 33th.

The Saint Mary's trio of Emily Field, Sofia Cuevas, and Dani Rowlinson weren't far behind at the halfway point, running 44^th, 45^th, and 46^th respectively.

The wind and rain made for a slippery occasion Friday morning, and Stanziano was unable to maintain her pace down the stretch, claiming 8^th in a time of 20:23.0.

Stanziano was named First Team All-West Coast Conference after the race as well.

Molly Dreher held steady throughout the race, finishing in 33^rd in a time of 21:37.3. Dani Rowlinson didn't let the weather phase her, claiming 40^th in a personal best time of 21:55.3.

Emily Field and Sopfia Cuevas paced each other all race, as the two finished side-by-side in 42^nd and 43^rd in times of 21:58.0 and 21:58.1 respectively. Cuevas' 21:58.1 was also a personal best by 14 seconds.

The Men's 8K was next up, and the Fernhill the track is slightly shorter than a true 8K, meaning the results are not true representations of 8K times.

Blaine Reynolds was out quick for the Gaels, running in 21^st through the opening 1.2k of the race. Luke Bland and Troy Coulston started well for the Gaels as well, running in 30^th and 34^th respectively.

Curtis Volf was quick off the marks for Saint Mary's as well, moving up to 33^rd after the opening 2k of the race.

Blaine Reynolds held steady throughout the entire race, finishing as the fastest Gael in 47^th in a time of 24:08.6. Curtis Volf finished just a few seconds back in 50^th, crossing the line in a time of 24:16.1.

Thomas Osborne was 55^th for Saint Mary's, finishing in a time of 24:33.8. The Gaels had a large group across the line next, as Sam Tyas and Richard McLain finished 60^th and 63^rd in times of 24:39.4 and 24:52.0 respectively.

ABOUT THE REGIONAL
A team's advancement to the national championship is dependent on their performance at the regional championships. Once the regionals have concluded, the top two teams in each regional automatically qualify for the championships. The NCAA DI Cross Country Subcommittee will then choose 13 at-large teams to fill out the 31-team field. At large team selections are based firstly on their performance at regionals, making the third and fourth place teams the most likely candidates.

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