The Seattle University cross country teams left the Emerald City Wednesday for Northern California as they get ready for the 2014 NCAA Division I Cross Country West Regional, to take place Friday, Nov. 14, at the Stanford Golf Course.
The women’s cross country team brings a wealth of confidence into the regional meet after winning the Western Athletic Conference Cross Country Championship meet in McAllen, Texas two weeks ago. Meanwhile, the men’s cross country team hopes for a better performance to close out the 2014 season after finishing fourth at the conference championships.
Senior Sophie Curatilo (Honolulu, Hawaii) has led the Redhawk women throughout the season, winning two races and finishing second at the WAC Championships. She is competing at the NCAA West Regional for the third straight year, hoping to improve upon her 98th-place finish at last year’s meet in Sacramento, Calif.
Also competing at the regional meet for the third straight season are Madison Davis (Camano Island, Wash.) and Elena Smith (Seattle, Wash.), while Lila Rice (Redmond, Wash.), Taylor de Laveaga (Gilbert, Ariz.), and Rebecca Lassere (Boise, Idaho) are each making their second appearances in this event. Only Moira O’Connor Lenth (Seattle, Wash.) is experiencing the NCAA West Regional for the first time.
The Seattle U women improved their standing from 23rd place in 2012 to 20th place last season, and the team believes that it can move up again this season. The Redhawks were ranked 15th in the region earlier this season, the first-ever regional ranking for the program, but they will be competing in arguably the toughest regional meet in the country.
The Redhawk men are not as experienced at this level, with Gus Arroyo (Portland, Ore.) Baxter Arguinchona (Spokane, Wash.), and Collin Overbay (Spokane, Wash.)the only Seattle U competitors to run in a previous NCAA West Regional meet. Arroyo is coming off a fifth-place finish at the WAC Championships, while Arguinchona wants to make up for a disappointing performance in Texas and Overbay looks for another solid effort after finishing 24th at the conference meet.
Those three will need to use their experiences from other major competitions, as the other four competitors Friday are all freshmen: redshirt freshman Joe Charbonneau (Bellingham, Wash.) along with first-year collegiate runners Ben Monk (Olympia, Wash.), Matthew Seidel (Santa Clara, Calif.), and Chay Weaver (Louisville, Colo.). After finishing in 16th place with an experienced squad in 2012, the Redhawk men finished in 25th place last year, but they are looking to improve on that result this time around.
The top two teams and top four individuals not on the qualifying teams from each of the nine regionals automatically advance to the NCAA Division I Championships, with 13 more teams and two individuals from across the country selected by an NCAA subcommittee as at-large attendees on Saturday, Nov. 15. The top 25 runners in each race will receive All-Region recognition.
The women’s six-kilometer race is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m., followed by the men’s 10-kilometer event at 12 noon. Live results, including splits, will be available at the following website: http://www.rtspt.com/events/ncaa/d1westxc14/.