INDIANAPOLIS -- For the third consecutive season, the Washington State men's cross country team, under the direction of fourth-year coach Wayne Phipps, earned an at-large bid to compete at the 2017 NCAA Championships. The WSU men's will be joined by Vallery Korir, under the tutelage of first-year assistant coach CharLee Linton, selected as an at-large individual for the women's race, the NCAA announced Saturday.
The Cougars men's team, coming off a seventh-place NCAA West Region finish, is one of 13 men's teams nationally - five of which are Pac-12 schools - to receive the at-large bid. Korir, a junior from Iten, Kenya, is one of 38 at-large women selected based on finishing in the top 25 in their regions. Korir was 19th at the NCAA West Region meet Friday.
WSU's Michael Williams and Chandler Teigen led the No. 27 Cougars to a seventh-place finish Friday at the West Region meet in Seattle. Williams, a senior from Richland, Wash., finished 12th and Teigen, a junior from Anatone, Wash., finished 20th. Both earned U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Region honors, accorded to the top 25 finishers in the nine regional meets.
This is the third straight trip to the NCAA XC Championships for Williams, Teigen and junior Nathan Wadhwani (Maple Ridge, B.C. Canada). It will be the second consecutive trip for junior Paul Ryan (Moscow, Idaho) and the second trip for junior Jake Finney (Post Falls, Idaho) who competed in 2015 and now in 2017. Making their national championships debut will be sophomore Justin Janke (Spokane, Wash.) and freshman Matthew Watkins (Mill Creek, Wash.).
Williams claimed 2016 All-America honors after his 30th-place finish, the first time a Cougars man earned the honor since 1998.
The WSU men's team makes its 15th appearance at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. In 2016 the Cougars finished 14th, the best team placing since 1984 when the Cougars men finished seventh. In 2015, the WSU men's team placed 26th at the NCAA Championships.
Korir, a January 2017 transfer from Murray State, is the first Cougars woman to compete at the NCAA Cross Country Championships since 2009 when Lisa Egami finished 169th. The highest placing for a WSU woman competing as an individual was Haley Paul at 14th in 2005. Only three women in WSU history have earned All-America honors, accorded to those who finish in the top 40 at the national meet: Megan Maynard in 1998, Everlyne Lagat in 2001, and Haley Paul in 2005.
The NCAA Cross Country Championships are Saturday, Nov. 18, at the E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky. The women's race starts at 7:45 a.m. PT and the men's race is slated to begin at 8:45 a.m. PT
The Cougars men's team, coming off a seventh-place NCAA West Region finish, is one of 13 men's teams nationally - five of which are Pac-12 schools - to receive the at-large bid. Korir, a junior from Iten, Kenya, is one of 38 at-large women selected based on finishing in the top 25 in their regions. Korir was 19th at the NCAA West Region meet Friday.
WSU's Michael Williams and Chandler Teigen led the No. 27 Cougars to a seventh-place finish Friday at the West Region meet in Seattle. Williams, a senior from Richland, Wash., finished 12th and Teigen, a junior from Anatone, Wash., finished 20th. Both earned U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Region honors, accorded to the top 25 finishers in the nine regional meets.
This is the third straight trip to the NCAA XC Championships for Williams, Teigen and junior Nathan Wadhwani (Maple Ridge, B.C. Canada). It will be the second consecutive trip for junior Paul Ryan (Moscow, Idaho) and the second trip for junior Jake Finney (Post Falls, Idaho) who competed in 2015 and now in 2017. Making their national championships debut will be sophomore Justin Janke (Spokane, Wash.) and freshman Matthew Watkins (Mill Creek, Wash.).
Williams claimed 2016 All-America honors after his 30th-place finish, the first time a Cougars man earned the honor since 1998.
The WSU men's team makes its 15th appearance at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. In 2016 the Cougars finished 14th, the best team placing since 1984 when the Cougars men finished seventh. In 2015, the WSU men's team placed 26th at the NCAA Championships.
Korir, a January 2017 transfer from Murray State, is the first Cougars woman to compete at the NCAA Cross Country Championships since 2009 when Lisa Egami finished 169th. The highest placing for a WSU woman competing as an individual was Haley Paul at 14th in 2005. Only three women in WSU history have earned All-America honors, accorded to those who finish in the top 40 at the national meet: Megan Maynard in 1998, Everlyne Lagat in 2001, and Haley Paul in 2005.
The NCAA Cross Country Championships are Saturday, Nov. 18, at the E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky. The women's race starts at 7:45 a.m. PT and the men's race is slated to begin at 8:45 a.m. PT