Cougar Cross Country Headed to Meets in Wisconsin, Lewiston

Friday, October 14

Madison, Wis.

TBD

Washington State University

Wisconsin Invitational

October 11, 2016 | Cross Country

WSU XC Release 10-11-16

By: Washington State Athletic Communications

WSU CROSS COUNTRY AT WISCONSIN, LEWISTON MEETS
The Washington State men's and women's cross country teams will divide to conquer...Cougars will race at the Eighth Annual Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in Madison, Wisc., Friday, Oct. 14...WSU women will race in the "B" 6k at 9 a.m. and men race in the Championship 8k at 11:20 a.m. PT....the remainder of the teams compete Sat., Oct. 15 Lewis-Clark State hosted Inland Empire Championships at Lewiston's Community Park...women's 5k begins at 11 a.m. and men's 8k begins at 11:45 a.m.....results available at wsucougars.com.

WAYNE PHIPPS, DIRECTOR WSU CROSS COUNTRY/TRACK & FIELD
Wayne Phipps (University of British Columbia '91) begins his third season with the Washington State cross country program...he became the 15th men's coach and the second coach for the combined men's and women's program at WSU on July 1, 2014, after 19 years at the University of Idaho...Phipps led the 2015 Cougar men's program to a sixth-place finish at the Pac-12 Championships, a fourth-place finish at the NCAA West Regionals, and an at-large berth to finish 26th out of 31 teams at the NCAA Championships...during the 2016 Track & Field season, a pair of Cougs earned second-team All-America honors...Cougars tallied 25 new entries into the WSU all-time top ten records...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.

ALLIX POTRATZ-LEE, ASSISTANT COACH
Allix Potratz-Lee joined the WSU track and field coaching staff in July 2014 after an outstanding career as a student-athlete and coach at the University of Idaho...member of the cross country/track and field coaching staff in 2010 as an assistant to Wayne Phipps, working with the distance corps...women's cross country team won WAC team titles in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.. she was a five-time WAC champion, a 10-time first-team all-WAC honoree and a two-time ESPN/CoSIDA Academic All-American...she helped Idaho cross country capture the 2005 and 2007 XC team titles,and claimed the 2008 individual WAC cross country crown.

COUGARS IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
The WSU men's ranked dropped from 24th to 31st in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Week 4 Oct. 4 national poll...in previous 2016 USTFCCCA polls: Week 1 Sept. 13 - receiving votes; Week 2 Sept. 20 - 27th; Week 3 Sept. 27 - 24th, Week 4 Oct. 4 - 31st...the drop in rankings was not unexpected as the Cougar men finished seventh at the Notre Dame Joe Piane Invitational Men's Blue 5 Miles race behind some lower ranked or unranked teams...Coach Phipps was not unhappy with the Cougars finish considering the unfortunate fall during the race by Chandler Teigen which cost WSU points...the Cougars have a great opportunity to move up in the national rankings with a strong finish at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invite Oct. 14...there are 31 men's teams racing with 19 ranked in the top 30 including the No. 1-3 teams, and five teams Receiving votes...on the women's side at Madison, there are 18 top 30 teams including the No. 1, 3 and 4 squads, and another five Receiving votes.