We traveled to Sacramento for the NCAA West Regional and then made it to Idaho for NXR Boise this weekend and here is a recap of both meets.
NCAA West Regional - November 10
Haggin Golf Course - Sacramento, CA
School from along the west coast region gathered on the Haggin Golf Course in Sacramento to snag one of the two automatic team spots for Saturday's NCAA Championship in Virginia. The women's 6K started the meet. Rosina Machu of Gonzaga led a large group of runners through the one mile in 5:07. By the halfway mark of the course, last year's NCAA West Regional champion Kaylee Mitchell of Oregon State and Machu were battling for first. In the end, Mitchell defended her title with a victory in a time of 19:08.4. Greta Karinauskaite of CBU finished second in a time of 19:12.4. Stanford women won the team championship with 77 points and Oregon finished second with 109 points and qualified for the NCAA Championship. Washington and CBU received at-large bids and will compete on Saturday. Besides Mitchell of Oregon State, Grace Fetherstonhaugh of Oregon State, Rosina Machu of Gonzaga and Brianna Weidler of UC Davis qualified for Saturday's NCAA Championship. Laura Pellicoro of Portland received one of the two at-large individual invitations and will race Saturday.
The link to the women's photo gallery is HERE
The men's 10K started next. At the mile mark, Ky Robinson of Stanford led the race with several athletes following close behind. At the halfway point of the race, Robinson had extended the lead to almost five seconds. Robinson cruised to a 28:55.6 victory and helped Stanford win the team championships. Sacramento native Matt Strangio of Portland finished second in 28:59.5. Gonzaga joined Stanford as the other automatic qualifier for NCAAs. Both schools automatically qualified last year. Portland and CBU received at-large bids to race on Saturday. The two schools tied and Portland finished third in the tie breaker. Nicholas Russell of Santa Clara, Davis Bove of Cal Poly, Elliott Cook of Oregon and Joe Hudson of Boise State qualified as individuals.
The link to the men's photo gallery is HERE
NXR Boise - November 11
Eagle Island State Park - Eagle, ID
The first of eight regionals to qualify for NXN took place in Eagle, Idaho on Saturday. The girl's championship race was a battle between the 2022 NXR Boise champion Anna Callahan of Skyline, Washington 2A champion Logan Hofstee of East Valley and Oregon 5A champion Emily Wisniewski of Crescent Valley. The three athletes also competed in the 2022 NXN meet and they traded spots for the first two miles. After the two mile mark Wisniewski and Hofstee raced for the finish line with Wisniewski winning in a time of 16:53.1. Lincoln of Portland won the team title over Jesuit of Portland and both teams will qualify for NXN. Both schools qualified last year for NXN. Central Kitsap finished third and now hopes for one of the four at-large bids. Wisniewski, Hofstee and Callahan will return as individuals to NXN and Nelah Roberts of Skyline of Idaho and Chloe Huyler of Lakeridge of Oregon qualified for NXN.
Girls Championship photo gallery is HERE
Girls Open Varsity photo gallery is HERE
At the one-mile mark of the boys championship race, there were a lot of contenders in the pack. At the two-mile mark, Nathan Neil of Bozeman, who raced at last year's NXN, took a sizable lead and now it was a race for the next qualifying spots. Neil won by over 15 seconds with a time of 14:49.6 and Landon Heemeyer of Rocky Mountain of Idaho finished second in a time of 15:05. Other individual qualifiers include Jack Henzke of Seattle Prep of Washington, Parker Mong of Anacortes of Washington and Jack Meier of West Salem of Oregon. Coeur d'Alene of Idaho won the championship with Crater of Oregon finishing second. Franklin of Oregon finished third and will wait to see if they can get one of the at-large invitations.
Boys Championship photo gallery is HERE
Boys Open Varsity photo gallery is HERE
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