WSU CROSS COUNTRY HEADS TO JOE PIANE NOTRE DAME INVITATIONAL 
The Washington State men's and women's cross country teams will race, for only the second time this season, at the 62nd Annual Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational Fri., Sept. 29, at Notre Dame's Burke Golf Course...both WSU teams will be competing in the Blue Division races with a few men competing in the 5-mile Open race...51 schools will be represented with 42 men's teams highlighted by four nationally-ranked squads including No. 11 WSU men...47 women's teams will race including seven nationally-ranked squads...women's Blue 5k race starts at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT)...men's 5-mile Blue race is set to start at 1:45 p.m. ET (10:45 a.m. PT)...the mixed gender Open race begins at 2:30 p.m. ET...results will be posted at wsucougars.com when available. 

LAST TIME: At the 2016 Joe Piane Notre Dame Invite, No. 24 WSU men's team finished seventh in the Blue race.

COUGARS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Washington State men's cross country team earned a No.11 ranking for the third week in a row in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Week 3 poll, published Sept. 26...No. 11 ranking is the highest since 1998 when the Cougars, led by distance legend, Olympian and WSU Athletics Hall of Fame member Bernard Lagat, was ranked No. 10 in the preseason poll...also the first time WSU has been in the top-30 at the start of the season since 2012...only three other Pac-12 schools rank higher in the 2017 men's week three poll: No. 2 Stanford, No. 4 Colorado and No. 8 Oregon...WSU men's team is ranked No. 3 in the USTFCCCA West Region Week 3 rankings, behind Stanford and Oregon...WSU women's team is not ranked in the top 15 for the West Region...complete national and regional rankings are on pages 2 and 3 of this release.

COUGARS TO HOST 2019 NCAA WEST REGION XC CHAMPIONSHIPS
Washington State will host the 2019 NCAA Cross Country West Regional Friday, Nov. 15, at the Colfax Golf Club at Colfax, Wash...this will mark the first time WSU will host an NCAA Cross Country Regional Championship...WSU hosted the 2015 Pac-12 Cross Country Championships at the Colfax Golf Club and practice on the course weekly

WSU MEN COMPETING AT NOTRE DAME SEPT. 29, 2017:
Men's 5-Mile Blue Division:  
Jake Finney         
Justin Janke       
Sam Levora         
Paul Ryan           
Kennan Schrag
Chandler Teigen
Nathan Wadhwani
Matthew Watkins
Michael Williams  

Men's 5-Mile Open: 
Cameron Dean        
Kyler Little         
Reid Muller
Nathan Tadesse
Isaac Wadhwani

ABOUT THE COUGAR MEN COMPETING SEPT. 29, 2017:
Cameron Dean    So.    Spokane, Wash. (Mead HS)

Jake Finney    Jr.    Post Falls, Idaho (Lake City HS)
At 2016 Pac-12 Championships finished 8th on team/46th overall.

Justin Janke    So.    Spokane, Wash. (North Central HS)
Pac-12 Championships 9th on team/48th overall...finished 8th at 2017 USATF XC National Junior Men's Championships...4th place at 13th Annual NACAC XC Championships led USA Team to Gold medal.

Sam Levora    Sr.    Sandpoint, Idaho (Sandpoint HS)
At 2016 NCAA Championships, 4th Cougar, 115th overall/91st team scoring.

Kyler Little    Jr.    Coeur d'Alene, Idaho (Lake City HS)

Reid Muller    Jr.    Pitt Meadows, B.C. Canada (Pitt Meadows)

Paul Ryan    Rs-So.    Moscow, Idaho (Logos HS)
At 2016 NCAA Championships, 6th Cougar, 220th overall.

Kennan Schrag    Fr.-Rs    Issaquah, Wash. (Issaquah HS)

Nathan Tadesse    Jr.    Surrey, B.C. Canada (N. Surrey Senior)
At 2016 NCAA Championships, 3rd Cougar, 113rd overall/90th team scoring.

Chandler Teigen    Jr.     Anatone, Wash. (Asotin HS)
At 2016 NCAA Championships, 5th Cougar, 145th overall/116th team scoring.

Isaac Wadhwani    So.    Maple Ridge, B.C. Canada (Fox Secondary)

Nathan Wadhwani    Jr.     Maple Ridge, B.C. Canada (Fox Secondary)
At 2016 NCAA West Region finished 5th on team/47th overall...at NCAA Championships, was spiked early in race and did not finish.

Matthew Watkins    Fr.    Mill Creek, Wash. (Jackson HS)

Michael Williams    Sr.     Richland, Wash. (Richland HS)
Two-time All-West Region honors...at 2016 NCAA Championships, led No. 18 team to 14th-place team finish with 30th place finish...ALL-AMERICA honors.

TEAM MEMBERS
Andrew Cooper    Rs-Fr.    Issaquah, Wash. (Liberty HS) 
Zak Kindl    Fr.    Spokane, Wash. (Lewis & Clark HS)
Jacob Nicholson    Fr.    Spokane Valley, Wash. (West Valley HS)
Luke Schilter    Fr.    Lacey, Wash. (NW Christian HS)
Zach Stallings    Fr.    Reno, Nev. (McQueen HS)

40TH ANNIVERSARY OF WSU WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
The 2017 season marks the 40th anniversary of the WSU Women's Cross Country program...1977 marked the first Fall of scored team events...the Cougars, coached by Dot Dobbie, finished 11th at the Northwest College Women's Sports Association (NCWSA).

WSU WOMEN COMPETING AT NOTRE DAME SEPT. 29, 2017:
Women's 5k Blue Division: 
Kiyena Beatty            Melissa Hruska
Devon Bortfeld            Vallery Korir
Josie Brown            Morgan Lash
Katherine Dittman        Desi Stinger
Marie Gaudin

ABOUT THE COUGAR WOMEN COMPETING SEPT. 29:
Kiyena Beatty    Fr.    Temecula, Calif. (Great Oak HS)

Devon Bortfeld    Sr.    Sammamish, Wash. (Eastlake HS)
2016 Pac-12 Champs finished 1st on team/37th overall...at NCAA West Region led Cougars team, 38th overall.

Josie Brown    Jr.    Coeur d'Alene, Idaho (Coeur d'Alene HS)
At 2016 NCAA West Region finished 4th on team, 143rd overall.

Katherine Dittmann    Jr.    Snohomish, Wash. (Glacier Peak HS)
At 2016 NCAA West Region finished 6th on team, 159th overall.

Marie Gaudin    So.    Arlingon, Wash. (Arlington HS)

Melissa Hruska    So.    Snoqualmie, Wash. (Mount Si HS)

Vallery Korir    Jr.    Iten, Kenya (Murray State)
Transferred from Murray State in January 2017.

Morgan Lash    So.    Anchorage, Alaska(South Anchorage HS)
At 2016 NCAA West Region finished 3rd on team, 135th overall.

Desi Stinger    So.    Temecula, Calif. (Great Oak HS)
At Pac-12 Championships finished 9th on team/95th overall.

TEAM MEMBERS        
Anisa Allaet    So.    Spokane, Wash. (Ferris HS)

Samantha King-Shaw    Fr.    Sparks, Nev. (Reed HS)

Tracy Myers    So-Rs    Beamsville, Ont. Canada (Grimsby Sec.)
At 2016 NCAA West Region finished 7th on team, 236th overall.

Jenaya Pynn    So.    Naniamo, B.C. Canda (Wellington Sec.)
At 2016 Pac-12 Champs finished 5th on team/84th overall.

Alexis Redfield     Rs-Fr.    Zillah, Wash. (Zillah HS)

Pia Richards    Fr.    Sammamish, Wash. (Eastlake HS)