Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State hosts Mountain West Championships
10/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
By: Dayna Hill
daynah@csufresno.edu
GoBulldogs.com
FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno State men's and women's cross country teams host the Mountain West Championships for the first time under head coach Sean McManus at Woodward Park on Friday, October 31. The women's 6K races will start at 10 a.m. and the men's 8K race will start at 10:45 a.m.
Mountain West Championships Meet Information
Date: Friday, October 31, 2014
Time: 10 a.m. - Women's 6K 10:45 a.m. - Men's 8K
Location: Woodward Park, Fresno, California
Parking: $5.00
Directions: From Hwy 41 North or Hwy 41 South, exit 135 at Friant Road. Turn North on Friant Road. Proceed ½ mile. Turn left on Audubon Road. Proceed approx. ½ mile. Park entrance will be on the right.
Entries: Mountain West Cross Country Teams
Course Description: The course is 75% dirt trails and 20% grass with a few road crossings. Flats are highly recommended.
Results: Available afterwards at gobulldogs.com, www.themw.com & www.directathletics.com
Tentative Bulldog Entries:
Women:
Julianne Jacques, Mackenzie Landa, Brittany Laygo, Carina Mendoza, Meagan Paracholski, Taylor Samson and Annemarie Schwanz.
Men:
Uriel Cabanas, Nathan Esparza, Joel Gonzalez, Chris Grimble, Matt Kwiatkowski and Efren Reyes and Esteban Vega.
MOUNTAIN WEST CHAMPIONSHIPS UP NEXT
Last season in the 2013 Mountain West Championships at Eisenhower Golf Club's Blue Course the Fresno State men's cross country team finished in seventh with 222 points and the women's team finished in 8th with 201 points.
The first race of the day will be the women's 6k, the gun goes off at 10 a.m. and will be followed by the men's race scheduled to start at 10:45 a.m.
At 12 p.m. the Women's Awards Ceremony will begin, followed by the Men's Awards Ceremony set to start at 12:15 p.m. The All-Conference team will consist of seven first-team and seven second-team student-athletes. The first seven finishers at the 2014 championships will receive first-team accolades, while the next seven will receive second-team honors.
Individual awards will be presented to the Men's Coach of the Year, the Women's Coach of the Year, the Male Athlete of the Year and the Female Athlete of the Year. The first-place finisher at the championship is awarded Athlete of the year and the first true freshman finisher will be named Freshman of the Year.
HEAD COACH MCMANUS COMMENTS
"We are really excited to have this opportunity for our kids to compete in front of their family, friends and the whole department," said head coach Sean McManus. "It's great to give their loved ones a chance to see what a cross country meet is all about. They will get to see all the color and pageantry as my old coach would call it. I know this will be an exciting event because it is a true Championship. All the athletes from our sport, from all of the schools will be participating in one race. I know that it is going to be a lot of fun to be out there in that great atmosphere."
SIZING UP THE MW CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD
The New Mexico men and women are the highest ranked teams in the field at No. 18 and No. 10 nationally. Other notable teams on the men's side include No. 25 Colorado State and Boise State who received 2 votes to get into the weekly top 30 rankings. The women's team will also be running against another nationally ranked team in No. 23 Boise State.
MID SEASON COACHES' POLL
2014 MOUNTAIN WEST MIDSEASON MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY COACHES' POLL
Pl. Team (1st place votes) Points
1. Colorado State (4) 45
New Mexico (4) 45
3. Air Force 35
4. Boise State 32
5. Wyoming 27
6. Utah State 19
7. Fresno State 12
8. San José State 9
2014 MOUNTAIN WEST MIDSEASON WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY COACHES' POLL
Pl. Team (1st place votes) Points
1. New Mexico (9) 99
2. Boise State (1) 87
3. Colorado State (1) 77
4. Wyoming 70
5. Air Force 61
6. Utah State 51
7. Nevada 50
8. Fresno State 41
9. San Diego State 34
10. San José State 18
11. UNLV 17
STRONG SHOWING AT PRE-NATIONALS INVITATIONAL
In their biggest invitational of the regular season, the Pre-NCAA Invitational, the Fresno State men's and women's cross country teams competed against the most competitive field this season. The evenly-split men's and women's `white' and `blue' elite races were held on the LaVern Gibson Championship Course and hosted by Indiana State University and the `Dogs came away with 19th and 13th place finishes in the `white races'.
The Fresno State women scored a total of 412 points with their top finisher, junior Annemarie Schwanz, finishing third in the 6K `white' race (6K, 21:36). Washington State won the women's `white' race by 39 points scoring a total of 143 points. Southern Illinois was the runner up finishing with 182 points followed by Iowa who earned a final score of 246 points. The women's team beat conference foe Air Force, who finished with a total of 428 points.
The `Dogs were led for the fourth straight meet this fall by Schwanz (3rd, 21:36), who ran the 11th-fastest time on the Bulldogs' all-time list. Freshman Mackenzie Landa followed in 36th place (22:33), behind her was junior Julianne Jacques (88th, 23:21). The final two scorers for the Bulldogs were redshirt-senior Carina Mendoza (99th, 23:25) and senior Lyndsie Etherton (186th, 25:04).
The Bulldog men also competed in the `white' race finished in 19th place, scoring a total of 442 points at the Pre National Invitational 8K. The Bulldogs were led by junior Chriss Grimble who placed 54th with a time of 26:02. Indiana won the men's `white race with 164 points.
In the men's race, senior Chriss Grimble (52nd, 26:02) and sophomore Matt Kwiatkowski (66th, 26:14) were again in a close pack running 12 seconds apart. The front pack was followed by the final scoring three, freshman Efren Reyes (106th, 26:38) and sophomores Nathan Esparza (107st, 26:38) and Uriel Cabanas (123rd, 26:53). Freshman Joel Gonzalez (144th, 27:12) completed the Bulldog entries.
UP AHEAD IN THE DISTANCE
NCAA West Regional meet will be held at Palo Alto, Calif. hosted by Stanford University on Friday, November 14. The women's 6K race is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. and the men's 10K race will follow at 12 p.m.
MEET COACH MCMANUS
Sean McManus enters his seventh season leading Fresno State's cross country teams and the track and field distance squads. He has coached 63 All-Conference runners during his time here and seven Conference Champions. During his time at Fresno State McManus has coached 19 athletes to the Bulldogs' All-Time List. McManus has taken Bulldog student-athletes to the NCAA Championships in both cross country and track and field. He has also led 15 FSU athletes to the NCAA Regionals.
ONLINE CROSS COUNTRY LINKS
Mountain West Cross Country: http://www.themwc.com/
NCAA West Regional Host: www.GoStanford.comNCAA
Men's Cross Country: http://www.ncaa.com/sports/cross-country-men/d1
NCAA Women's Cross Country: http://www.ncaa.com/sports/cross-country-women/d1
National / Regional Polls: http://www.ustfccca.org/team-rankings-polls-central/division-i-rankings
NCAA Division 1 Cross Country Handbook: http://www.ustfccca.org/assets/handbooks/d1-cc-handbook.pdf
IAAF: www.iaaf.org
United States Olympic Committee: www.olympic-usa.org
USA Track and Field: www.usatf.org
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