Cougar Cross Country Heads to NCAA Championships

Washington State University's men's cross country team, under the direction of second-year coach Wayne Phipps, earned an at-large bid to compete at the NCAA Championships, Saturday, Nov. 21, at the E.P. “Tom” Sawyer Park in Louisville, Ky...13th appearance for a WSU men's team at the NCAA XC Championships...last time was in 2011, when the unranked Cougars, under the direction of coach Pete Julian, finished fourth at the NCAA West Regionals at Stanford and went on to place 21st at the NCAA Championships, the best finish since the 1998 men's team, led by Bernard Lagat, placed 18th...Live Stats link: http://primetimetiming.com/liveresults/2015/NCAAXC/.

9:00  a.m. Gates Open for Spectators

11:52 a.m. National Anthem

NOON Women's Championship 6K Race

12:30 p.m. First gun fired (indicating 30 minutes to start)

12:40 p.m. Second gun fired (20 minutes to start)

12:50 p.m. Third gun fired (10 minutes to start)

1:00 p.m. Men's Championship 10K Race

Approx. 2 p.m. Presentation of Awards

Wayne Phipps (University of British Columbia '91) become the 15th coach to take the reins of the Washington State men's program and the second coach for the combined men's and women's program at WSU on July 1, 2014...Phipps had been the University of Idaho's Director and Track & Field/Cross Country from 2010 through 2014, and was a coach with the Vandals program for a total of 19 years...he served as co-head coach from 2000-09, after serving as an assistant coach from 1995-99... while at Idaho, Phipps was honored 14 times as a conference coach of the year and led the Vandals to a record 16 total conference titles...he also holds a masters of science from the University of Oregon in exercise and movement science, with a sports medicine major and minors in biomechanics and exercise physiology.

Jake Finney (Fr., Post Falls, Idaho) - Finished 17th overall at Clash of Inland NW 6k in time of 18:33.1...eighth Cougar and 24th overall finisher at Sundodger 8k in time of 25:26.73...at Washington Invite, final scorer on team and 61st overall in 8k time of 24:17.3...at Inland Empire Challenge finished 8th (24:47)...at Pac-12 Championships was fifth scorer, 46th overall in time of 24:35.3...at NCAA West Regionals sixth on team, 95th overall in 10k time of 33:03.9.

Sam Levora (So., Sandpoint, Idaho) - Fifth Cougar and 15th overall finisher at Clash of Inland NW 6k in time of 18:29.6...fourth on team and seventh overall at Sundodger 8k in time of 24:26.58...third WSU scorer, 99th overall at PreNats with 8k time of 24:18.9...at Pac-12 Championships, third on team 32nd overall in time of 24:04.0...at NCAA West Regionals third on team, 32nd overall in 10k time of 31:52.8.

Nathan Tadesse (Fr., Surrey, B.C., Canada) - Took 19th overall at Clash of Inland NW 6k in time of 18:36.1...at Sundodoger 8k was sixth Cougar and 12th overall finisher in time of 24:36.16...sixth on team and 72nd overall at Washington Invite with 8k time of 24:33.0...at PreNats finished 186th, sixth on team, with 8k time of 24:49.9...at Pac-12 Championships finished 70th overall, seventh Cougar in time of 25:18.9...at NCAA West Regionals fourth on team, 37th overall in 10k time of 33:56.0.

Chandler Teigen (Fr., Anatone, Wash.) - Fourth from team and 12th overall at Clash of Inland NW 6k in time of 18:18.7...final WSU scorer and eighth overall at Sundodger 8k in time of 24:28.69...at Washington Invite 8k, fourth on team and 51st overall in time of 24:09.2...fourth Cougar scorer at PreNats, 131st overall with 8k time of 24:31.3...at Pac-12 Championships finished fourth on team, 40th overall with time of 24:24.1...at NCAA West Regionals fifth on team, 51st overall in 10k time of 32:06.8.

Nathan Wadhwani (Fr., Maple Ridge, B.C., Canada) - At Clash of Inland NW was second Cougar and seventh place with 6k time of 18:07.2...third WSU runner and fifth overall at Sundodger 8k in time of 24:21.29...third on team an 41st overall at Washington Invite 8k in time of 24:02.9...fifth and final WSU scorer at PreNats, 132nd overall with 8k time of 23:31.8...at Pac-12 Championships, 57th overall and sixth Cougar in time of 24:56.1...at NCAA West Regionals seventh on team, 107th overall in 10k time of 33:17.5.

John Whelan (Jr., Etna, Calif.) - Team Captain...“Grand daddy” on the team as junior...top Cougar finisher at the Clash of Inland NW 6k with third place time of 17:47.4...fourth place, second Cougar at Sundodger 8k in time of 24:14.25...top Cougar at Washington Invite 8k at 13th in 23:34.4...at PreNats was second WSU finisher at 47th in 8k time of 23:54.9...at Pac-12 Championships was top WSU placer in 8k at ninth with a time of 23:26.3...earned All-Pac-12 second team honors...runner-up at NCAA West Regionals in 10k time of 30:54.9...earned NCAA All-Region honors.

Michael Williams (So., Richland, Wash.) - Third Cougar and 11th overall at Clash of the Inland NW meet with 6k time of 18:14.0...runner-up at Sundodger Invite 8k in time of 24:08.59...led WSU team to win over No. 21 UW...second on team and 35th overall at Washington Invite 8k in 23:57.0...first Cougar to cross line at PreNats at 36th overall with 8k time of 23:49.7...at Pac-12 Championships was second on team, placed 12th overall in a time of 23:29.2...earned All-Pac-12 second team honors...third place overall at NCAA West Regionals in 10k time of 31:05.4...earned NCAA All-Region honors.

PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS COUGAR HIGHLIGHTS
John Whelan and Michael Williams' top 12 finishes led the WSU men to a sixth place finish while the Cougar women were 10th at the Pac-12 Championships, Oct. 30, hosted by Washington State University at the Colfax Golf Club in Colfax, Wash....Whelan finished ninth in the men's 8000m race (23:26.3)...Williams finished 12th (23:29.2)...Whelan and WIlliams' places accorded them All-Pac-12 second team honors...in the women's 6k, WSU senior CharLee Linton (Shoreline, Wash.) was the top Cougar finisher at 36th (20:51.5).

NCAA WEST REGIONAL COUGAR HIGHLIGHTS
John Whelan and Michael Williams' second and third-place finishes, respectively, led unranked WSU men's team to a surprising fourth place at the NCAA West Regionals, Nov. 13 at a rain-soaked Jefferson Park Golf Course in Seattle...Whelan ran the 10k in 30:54.9, with Williams third in a time of 31:05.4...Oregon's Edward Cheserek won in a time of 30:43.2...other WSU men's scoring were Sam Levora 32nd (31:52.8), Nathan Tadesse 37th (31:56.0), and Chandler Teigen 51st (32:06.8)...also racing were Jake Finney 95th (33:03.9), and Nathan Wadhwani 107th (33:17.5)....WSU women's team finished 11th out of 35 teamled by CharLee Linton's 47th place (21:32.2).

PRENATS COUGAR MEN'S HIGHLIGHTS, OCT 17, 2015, LOUISVILLE
WSU's Michael Williams finished 36th on the 8k course in 23:49.7...John Whelan was 47th with a time of 23:54.9...rest of WSU men scoring were Sam Levora 99th (24:18.9), Chandler Teigen 131st (24:31.3), and Nathan Wadhwani 132nd (24:31.8). Also competing were Nathan Tadesse (186th, 24:49.9), and Paul Ryan (254th, 25:21.3)...WSU men placed 13th out of 42 DI teams in the Red Race.