PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State men's and women's cross country teams travel to Seattle, Washington, for the 2022 NCAA West Regionals Friday at Chamber Creek Regional Park. Friday's women's 6k race will get going first at 10 a.m followed by the men's 10k race at 11 a.m.
 
LAST TIME OUT:
Washington State's men's and women's teams combined for 13 personal best times at the 2022 Pac-12 Cross Country Championships.  The 13 PR's came on a course at UC-Riverside which featured 100 feet of elevation change and 27 total turns, half of which are 90-degree turns.
 
On the women's side, the Pac-12 Championship was the closest finish in conference history. The Cougar women tallied 160 team points to earn a seventh-place finish which was the highest team finish by any unranked team in the race. The Cougar women saw their top three runners finish inside the top 22.
 
Brain Barsaiya took 33rd in the 8k race to lead the Washington State men, who finished sixth overall with 177 team points.
 
Leif Swanson (23:55.1, 34th) and Kelvin Limo (24:04.2, 36th) crossed the finish right behind Barsaiya.  
LAST TIME AT NCAA WEST REGIONALS:
Both the WSU men's and women's teams had runners earn All-Region finishes in 2021. Former Coug, Amir Ado finished 12th on the men's 10k race, while Neema Kimtai took 18th in the women's 6k race.
 
The WSU women's team notched a 12th overall finish bringing home 317 points while the men's team placed seventh overall with 244 team points.
IN THE RANKINGS:
The women's team has jumped up one spot while the men's teams have remained steady in the rankings. The women are still sitting at No. 8 in this week's West Region rankings. Washington State's men stayed at No. 12.
 
Brian Barsaiya, (No. 66) Alaina Stone Boggs, (No. 81) and Caroline Jerotich (No. 91), Neema Kimtai (No.72) each remain in the top-100 of the FloTrack NCAA Division I individual cross country rankings (Nov 2).
 
PREVIEWING THE FIELD:
The West Region is made up of 42 different universities ranging from Hawaii to Nevada. The majority of the participating universities are from California.  The men's side has six teams in the top thirty and one receiving votes (No. 1 Stanford, No. 14 Washington , No. 18 Oregon, No. 24 Portland, No. 25 Cal Baptist, No. 26 Gonzaga, and RV Cal Poly). The women's side has four teams in the top 30 and two receiving votes (No. 10 Oregon, No. 11 Stanford, No. 14 Cal Baptist, No. 16 Washington, RV Oregon State and RV Boise State).
 
NCAA XC CHAMPIONSHIPS SELECTION CRITERIA:
Individuals
From each NCAA regional meet, the first four student-athletes, not on a qualifying team, to finish will be automatic qualifiers to the NCAA championships meet. All individual automatic qualifiers must finish in the top 25 within their region.
 
The committee will select two at-large individuals by identifying the highest non-qualifying individual finishers at the regional meets. All individual at-large qualifiers must finish in the top 25 within their regional meet. In cases where regions have less than four automatic individual qualifiers meet the required selection criteria, the committee will add individual at-large qualifiers to maintain the maximum number of 255 participants per gender. The next selected at-large individual(s) would be the next highest non-qualifying individual finishers among the regional meets. Any additional at-large individuals selected must finish in the top 25 of their regional meet.
Teams
The top two teams at each regional championships meet automatically qualify for the championships meet. Thirteen at-large teams will then be selected by the NCAA Division I Cross Country Subcommittee.
 
At-large selection will be conducted on the Saturday following regional competition unless extraordinary circumstances arise. The committee will determine at-large berths by examining the following selection criteria in order: 1. Regional Finish, 2. Wins (points) against teams already in the championships, 3. Head-to-head competition between teams under consideration.
UP NEXT:    
Washington State will compete next week in the NCAA Championships in Stillwater, OK., on Saturday, November 19.
 
For all the latest WSU Cross Country news, photos and videos, like the team on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/wsucougartrack) or follow on Twitter (@ WSUCougarXCTF)
 and Instagram (@WSUCougarXCTF).