SACRAMENTO, Calif. – It was a historic day for the WSU cross country teams as Rosemary Longisa and Solomon Kipchoge swept the NCAA West Regionals. Rosemary Longisa finished in first, setting a course record, with a time of 19 minutes and 8.3 seconds. Solomon Kipchoge also set a course record, finishing with a first-place time of 28 minutes and 54.4 seconds, almost 30 seconds faster than the second-place finisher. Cougar men have won the West Regional in back-to-back years, while this is the first time in program history that a female runner has won a West Regional.
 
Freshman Rosemary Longisa wins the West Regionals with a time of 19 minutes and 8.3 seconds. Rozzy's time was a course record, the second of which she has set this year. She outlasted the two Oregon runners, winning by a little more than four seconds. 19 minutes and 8.3 seconds was the freshman's second-best time of the season, giving her fantastic momentum for the National Championship.
 
Rosemary Longisa and Zenah Cheptoo were right in the front of the pack through the first mile. There was not much movement at the mile-and-a-half marker, with Lonigsa and Cheptoo in the top five. Halfway through the race, Longisa began to make her push, taking the lead. Kylah Madariaga is up 16 places since the quarter marker of the race. The distance started to grow behind Longisa as the end of the race was closing in.
 
Zenah Cheptoo, Caroline Jepkorir, Nicole Bissell, and Kylah Madariaga all put up impressive performances to help the Cougs finish fourth overall as a team. Zenah Cheptoo ran the second-best time of her young collegiate career with a time of 19 minutes and 31 seconds, finishing in sixth. Caroline Jepkorir finished inside the top 30 with a time of 20 minutes and 25 seconds, with teammate Nicole Bissell not far behind, finishing in 20 minutes and 31.1 seconds. Kylah Madariaga rounded out the top five for the Cougars with a finishing time of 20 minutes and 51 seconds, good for 51st.
 
Solomon Kipchoge wins the West Regionals with a time of 28 minutes and 54.4 seconds, a course record. His time was 30 seconds better than the second-place finisher, teammate Evans Kurui. This is back-to-back regional championships for Kipchoge, winning the Mountain Regional with Texas Tech last year.
 
Evans Kurui and Solomon Kipchoge were up in the front of the pack at the mile-and-a-half marker. Midway through the race, Kipchoge was leading the race with Evans right behind in third. With roughly two kilometers left in the race, Kipchoge made his charge, leading the race by 16 seconds with teammate Evans Kurui behind. Kipchoge held out for the win, winning by 30 seconds over his teammate.
 
Evans Kurui impressed as he always does, finishing in second with a time of 29 minutes and 23.1 seconds. He has finished in the top two at the West Regional in back-to-back years. Josphat Meli and Kutoven Stevens finished in 27th and 29th with times of 30 minutes and 1.3 seconds, and 30 minutes and 2.3 seconds, respectively. Vincent Koech rounded out the top five runners for the Cougs in 40th with a time of 30 minutes and 18.1 seconds.
 
Longisa, Cheptoo, Kipchoge, and Kurui qualify for the National Championships as individuals with this result, while the rest of the team will wait to see if the Subcommittee selects them as one of their 14 at-large teams on Saturday at 2 pm PT.
 
 
Women's 6k – WSU Individuals 
Rosemary Longisa, 19:08.3, 1st [Regional Champion] [Course Record]
 
Zenah Cheptoo, 19:31.0, 6th
 
Caroline Jepkorir, 20:25.0, 28th
 
Nicole Bissell, 20:31.1, 34th [PR]
 
Kylah Madariaga, 20:51.0, 51st
 
Aleeya Cossey, 21:04.0, 61st [PR]
 
Kaleena Narus, 21:49.6, 107th
 

Men's 10k - WSU Individuals 
Solomon Kipchoge, 28:54.4, 1st [Course Record] [PR]
 
Evans Kurui, 29:23.1, 2nd
 
Jospaht Meli, 30:01.3, 27th [PR]
 
Kutoven Stevens, 30:02.3, 29th [PR]
 
Vincent Koech, 30:18.1, 40th [PR]
 
Kade Brownell, 31:10.9, 87th [PR]
 
Evan Bruce, 31:15.8, 93rd