The Seattle University men’s and women’s cross country teams took off for Orem, Utah on Thursday where they will compete in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Championships on Saturday.
The men’s 8K is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. PT and the women’s 5K will begin after.
This is the first time the team has competed on this course, and the first time they’ve competed in cross country at this altitude.
Last year at the conference championships, the men took fourth and the women placed first.
IMPLICATIONS
Head coach Trisha Steidl said this race shouldn’t be unlike any other as far as the individual goes – this race is about the team. She stressed just how important every person’s race will be for the championships.
The extra motivation for this race should come from knowing that teammates are relying on each other to push harder.
“It’s the difference between beating another team or being beat by them,” Steidl said.
Steidl said the team needs to be smart, confident, and aware – and ready to hurt. In a competitive WAC field, the races should be tight.
Steidl quoted her senior men’s captain, Baxter Arguinchona: “As Baxter would say, we need to be perfect.”
The top seven men and seven women will go on to compete in the NCAA West Regionals on Nov. 13 at Jackson Park Golf Course in Seattle, Wash.
COMPETITION
Seattle U men’s and women’s teams will race against their competitors in the WAC.
The men will race against Utah Valley, Missouri-Kansas City, New Mexico State, Grand Canyon, UT Rio Grande Valley, and Chicago State.
The women will race against the same six teams, but with the added CSU Bakersfield.
The men’s team is made up of redshirt senior Baxter Arguinchona, senior Gus Arroyo, redshirt sophomore Joe Charbonneau, redshirt sophomore Tyler Flanner, redshirt junior Nathan McLaughlin, sophomore Ben Monk, redshirt senior Collin Overbay, sophomore Matthew Seidel, and sophomore Chay Weaver.
The women’s team is made up of senior Taylor de Laveaga, sophomore Johanna Erickson, senior Lindsay Frederick, junior Moira O’Connor Lenth, junior Lila Rice, senior Elena Smith, and freshman Olivia Stein.
2015 PRE-CHAMPIONSHIP COACHES POLL
On Oct. 27, the WAC Pre-Championship Cross Country Coaches Poll was released. The poll has the men finishing third and the women finishing second. The women also received two first-place votes. Utah Valley was picked first in both the men’s and women’s polls.