Friday, November 10
Sacramento, CA / Haggin Oaks Golf Course
W: 10 A.M. / M: 11 A.M.
at
NCAA West Regional
Photo by: Eyasu Betwos
Cal Poly Travels to Sacramento for NCAA West Regional
11/9/2023 9:00:00 AM | Cross Country
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The Cal Poly cross country program will descend upon Haggin Oaks Golf Course in Sacramento on Friday to compete in the NCAA West Regional.
Racing starts at 10 a.m. Friday with the women's 6K, followed by the men's 10K at 11 a.m. You can follow the live results here.
This marks the second time in three seasons and the fifth time overall that the NCAA West Regional has been hosted at the Haggin Oaks Golf Course. Four runners that competed in the 2021 meet in Sacramento will take the start line for the Mustangs on Friday — Schuyler Gooley, Anthony Guerra, Aidan McCarthy and Colton Swinth. Guerra was the top finisher for the men in that race, placing 61st overall.
The West Regional is one of nine regional meets that will be held around the country on Friday. Team and individual berths to the NCAA Championships will be up for grabs as the top two teams in each of the nine regionals automatically qualify for the meet held at Virginia's Panorama Farms on Saturday, Nov. 18. The rest of the 31-team field on the men's and women's sides is selected by the NCAA subcommittee. Performances at regionals play an important role in the selection of the 13 at-large teams, making the third and fourth place finishing squads at each regional the most likely at-large candidates.
Individually, the top four finishers in each regional who do not belong to an automatic qualifying or at-large team will automatically advance to the NCAA Championships provided they finish in the top 25 in their respective regional. Those 36 individual automatic qualifiers will be joined by two at-large selections for a grand total of 38.
Cal Poly is two weeks removed from another dominant showing at the Big West Championships. Hosting the conference meet for the first time in a decade, the Mustangs swept the men's and women's team titles for the second consecutive year and seventh time in program history. It also marked just the second time Cal Poly swept the conference championships in back-to-back years.
The Mustang men soared to their 19th Big West title, beating out second-place UC Santa Barbara by a commanding 60 points — the second largest margin of victory in Big West Championship history and the largest since Cal Poly joined the conference in 1996. Graduate student Davis Bove led the stampede, cruising to the individual title with an 8K time of 23:37.4 — just 10 seconds off the Big West meet record. Bove has finished first in all three meets he has competed in this season and on Friday will be eyeing, at the very least, an individual berth to the NCAA Championships.
Three more runners placed inside the top 10 at conference to earn All-Big West honors for the men — Aidan McCarthy was second, Anthony Guerra fifth and Spencer Pickren sixth. Freshman Chris Caudillo rounded out the runners that scored, taking 13th.
For the second straight year, the Cal Poly women mustered up an incredible performance at the Big West Championships to raise the trophy. Trailing UC Davis by 12 points entering the last kilometer, juniors Hana Catsimanes and Carissa Buchholz both moved up multiple spots to help the Mustangs fly past UC Davis and repeat as Big West champs for the fourth time in program history. It marked the ninth Big West title in program history for the women.
Cal Poly beat out the Aggies by 19 points and four runners placed inside the top 10 to grab All-Big West honors, led by Schuyler Gooley securing fourth with a personal-best 6K time (20:34.0). Catsimanes, sophomore Tatiana Cornejo and Buchholz finished sixth, seventh and eighth respectively, while sophomore Riley Cash rose to the occasion and earned a strong 14th-place finish.
Recently, the Mustangs dominated the end-of-season conference awards, winning five of the six. Bove was crowned Big West Men's Athlete of the Year, Caudillo earned Men's Freshman of the Year honors and Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Ryan Vanhoy was named Men's Coach of the Year. On the women's side, Sydney Sundgren received Big West Women's Freshman of the Year and head women's cross country coach Michelle Chewens was selected as the Women's Coach of the Year.
Last year at the NCAA West Regional held at Chambers Creek Regional Park in Washington, the men captured eighth to secure their best finish at regionals since 2013, while the women grabbed 11th — their best result since 2018.
Entering Friday, the men are ranked eighth in the USTFCCCA regional rankings while the women are currently 10th.
Virginia is set to host the 2023 NCAA Cross Country Championships on Nov. 18 at Panorama Farms in Charlottesville. The selection show for the meet will air on NCAA.com at 2 p.m. PST Saturday.
Racing starts at 10 a.m. Friday with the women's 6K, followed by the men's 10K at 11 a.m. You can follow the live results here.
This marks the second time in three seasons and the fifth time overall that the NCAA West Regional has been hosted at the Haggin Oaks Golf Course. Four runners that competed in the 2021 meet in Sacramento will take the start line for the Mustangs on Friday — Schuyler Gooley, Anthony Guerra, Aidan McCarthy and Colton Swinth. Guerra was the top finisher for the men in that race, placing 61st overall.
The West Regional is one of nine regional meets that will be held around the country on Friday. Team and individual berths to the NCAA Championships will be up for grabs as the top two teams in each of the nine regionals automatically qualify for the meet held at Virginia's Panorama Farms on Saturday, Nov. 18. The rest of the 31-team field on the men's and women's sides is selected by the NCAA subcommittee. Performances at regionals play an important role in the selection of the 13 at-large teams, making the third and fourth place finishing squads at each regional the most likely at-large candidates.
Individually, the top four finishers in each regional who do not belong to an automatic qualifying or at-large team will automatically advance to the NCAA Championships provided they finish in the top 25 in their respective regional. Those 36 individual automatic qualifiers will be joined by two at-large selections for a grand total of 38.
Cal Poly is two weeks removed from another dominant showing at the Big West Championships. Hosting the conference meet for the first time in a decade, the Mustangs swept the men's and women's team titles for the second consecutive year and seventh time in program history. It also marked just the second time Cal Poly swept the conference championships in back-to-back years.
The Mustang men soared to their 19th Big West title, beating out second-place UC Santa Barbara by a commanding 60 points — the second largest margin of victory in Big West Championship history and the largest since Cal Poly joined the conference in 1996. Graduate student Davis Bove led the stampede, cruising to the individual title with an 8K time of 23:37.4 — just 10 seconds off the Big West meet record. Bove has finished first in all three meets he has competed in this season and on Friday will be eyeing, at the very least, an individual berth to the NCAA Championships.
Three more runners placed inside the top 10 at conference to earn All-Big West honors for the men — Aidan McCarthy was second, Anthony Guerra fifth and Spencer Pickren sixth. Freshman Chris Caudillo rounded out the runners that scored, taking 13th.
For the second straight year, the Cal Poly women mustered up an incredible performance at the Big West Championships to raise the trophy. Trailing UC Davis by 12 points entering the last kilometer, juniors Hana Catsimanes and Carissa Buchholz both moved up multiple spots to help the Mustangs fly past UC Davis and repeat as Big West champs for the fourth time in program history. It marked the ninth Big West title in program history for the women.
Cal Poly beat out the Aggies by 19 points and four runners placed inside the top 10 to grab All-Big West honors, led by Schuyler Gooley securing fourth with a personal-best 6K time (20:34.0). Catsimanes, sophomore Tatiana Cornejo and Buchholz finished sixth, seventh and eighth respectively, while sophomore Riley Cash rose to the occasion and earned a strong 14th-place finish.
Recently, the Mustangs dominated the end-of-season conference awards, winning five of the six. Bove was crowned Big West Men's Athlete of the Year, Caudillo earned Men's Freshman of the Year honors and Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Ryan Vanhoy was named Men's Coach of the Year. On the women's side, Sydney Sundgren received Big West Women's Freshman of the Year and head women's cross country coach Michelle Chewens was selected as the Women's Coach of the Year.
Last year at the NCAA West Regional held at Chambers Creek Regional Park in Washington, the men captured eighth to secure their best finish at regionals since 2013, while the women grabbed 11th — their best result since 2018.
Entering Friday, the men are ranked eighth in the USTFCCCA regional rankings while the women are currently 10th.
Virginia is set to host the 2023 NCAA Cross Country Championships on Nov. 18 at Panorama Farms in Charlottesville. The selection show for the meet will air on NCAA.com at 2 p.m. PST Saturday.
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