MEET PREVIEW: Silver State Collegiate XC Challenge

There’s no gambling when it comes to cross country this year.

If a team wants to qualify for the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships on March 15 in Stillwater, Oklahoma, it must impress the selection committee through various competitions in the regular season as well as at its conference championships since there are no regional championships.

We’ll see the first major meet of the spring cross country regular season today in Las Vegas.

Twelve teams that were ranked in the most recent National Coaches’ Polls – including six in the top-10 – will converge on Craig Ranch Regional Park for the Silver State Collegiate XC Challenge hosted by USATF Nevada. This is the first of two regular-season meets being held at this venue.

The “fast” men’s race at 10 am PT won’t disappoint as No. 1 Northern Arizona squares off against No. 2 BYU and No. 4 Notre Dame in a colossal top-5 matchup. No. 18 Washington, No. 24 Weber State, No. 27 Air Force as well as RV Boise State are sure to factor in as well.

Many of those teams made the most of their racing opportunities during the fall segment: NAU won the OSU Invitational over Oklahoma State and BYU; Notre Dame went undefeated in two competitions – one being a 14-point win at the ACC Championships; Weber State nearly took down BYU in a dual meet (The Wildcats lost by one point); Neither the Mountain West nor the Pac-12 allowed competition in the fall, so this will be a debut for the remaining three programs.

The “fast” women’s race at 11 am PT features three top-10 programs: No. 3 BYU, No. 4 New Mexico and No. 8 Washington. Other ranked teams in the field include No. 13 Boise State, No. 18 Utah and No. 26 Northern Arizona. No. 24 Notre Dame was provisionally listed as to compete, but will toe the starting line again on February 5 at the FSU Winter XC Classic.

BYU was the only team out of those six to compete in the fall. The Cougars rolled to a team title at the OSU Invitational, scoring just 22 points as they put six runners in the top-10. Whittni Orton led the way for BYU as the individual champion in 20:27.8, while Aubrey Frentheway also finished among the top-5 individuals in third place at 21:00.1.

Be sure to check back later this afternoon for a recap of the meet.