The Big West Conference will have a solid contingent of runners at the NCAA Championships next Monday as the #22 Cal Poly men and #26 UC Santa Barbara women were selected as at-large participants in the championship meet. The conference also picked up an individual qualifier on both sides as UC Riverside's Ulices Pina and Brenda Martinez were selected to compete. They are UCR's first-ever national meet qualifiers.
The 69th annual men's and 27th annual women's NCAA Cross Country Championships will be hosted by Indiana State University and held at Wabash Valley Family Sports Center in Terre Haute, Ind., on November 19. The men’s race will be a 10K race, while the women’s championship jaunt will be a 6K affair.
The Mustangs, who are making their fifth appearance all-time at the NCAA Championships, earned an at-large bid on the strength of a fifth place finish(116 pts.) at the NCAA West Regional meet. Big West Athlete of the Year and individual champion Phillip Reid was the highest finisher for Cal Poly, crossing the finish line in 30:26.75. Jeff Lease was 20th overall after finishing the 10K course in 30:40.15, while Troy Swier (22nd - 30:41.60), Evan Anderson (23rd - 30:45.80) and Matt Johnsrud (38th - 31:06.95) wrapped up the scoring for the Mustangs.
Pina claimed his automatic spot in the NCAA field after finishing the race in 30:39.60, good for 19th place among the 173 runners.
On the women's side, the Gauchos claimed a spot in the NCAA meet after finishing fifth at the West Regional Championships. UCSB, making its fifth NCAA appearance in the last seven years, was led by its stellar senior duo of Megan Lewis and Bethany Nickless. Lewis completed the 6K course in 20:47.35, good for 12th place. Nickless finished a spot behind her teammate with a time of 20:48.70. Rounding out the scoring for UC Santa Barbara was Liza Hitchner in 24th (21:07.35), Danielle Domenichelli in 41st (21:29.10) and Breanne Strenkowski in 53rd (21:39.80).
Martinez claimed a spot in the NCAA field after a competitor was scratched from the field. She was the high finisher for the Highlanders at the West Region meet, crossing the finish line in 22nd place overall at 21:02.84.