SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Arizona Cross Country continues the 2023 postseason in California for the NCAA Western Regional Championships hosted by Sacramento State on Friday.
 
The regional championship event is hosted by Sacramento State at the Haggin Oaks Golf Course. The women's 6k will start things off on Friday at 11:00 a.m. MST, followed by the men's 10k at 12:00 p.m. MST. This will be the first time this season that the Arizona Men will compete in a 10k race, differing from the typical 8k. Live results for the competition can be found here.
 
There are a total of nine regional championships that will be held on Friday across the country. The top two teams in each region and the top four individual runners not on a qualifying team will advance with an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships in Charlottesville, Va. There are an additional 13 teams and two runners selected at-large across all the regions.
 
The Wildcats' postseason started with their last meet, the Pac-12 Championships, hosted by Washington in University Place, Wash two weeks ago. At the meet, the Arizona Men finished seventh overall and the Arizona Women placed 10th overall. Ian Sanchez Lopez was the top finisher on the men's side for the second consecutive competition, placing 36th overall. He was followed closely by freshman Michael Urbanksi, who placed 37th overall and lowered his 8k personal best by over 30 seconds. Urbanski, along with fellow freshmen Gibson Kibia and Andrew Gibby, all saw big drops in their 8k times. On the women's side, Sailor Hutton once again led the way for the Wildcats. Hutton has finished first for the Arizona Women in all of their competitions so far this year and placed 41st overall at the conference championships. She was followed by Alisa Lyesina and freshman Sorcha Shiu.
 
While Hutton has been the top finisher for the women all season long, the men have had three different runners finish first for the team: Cooper Quigley, Iker Sanchez Lopez, and Ian Sanchez Lopez. Entering the regional championships, Hutton's 6k time of 20:33.9 and Iker Sanchez Lopez's 8k time of 23:43.5 are the fastest times run by Wildcats this season. Sanchez Lopez's time came at the UC Riverside Invitational and Hutton's came last week at the Pac-12 Championships. As a team, the highest finish for the Arizona Men came at the Dave Murray Invitational where they placed second overall, and the highest finish for the Arizona Women came at the George Kyte Invitational where they placed third overall.
 
The men are currently ranked 12th in the West Region in the USTFCCCA's Regional Rankings. The Western Regionals will feature six teams on the women's side ranked in the top 30 nationally, and four teams on the men's side.
 
At last year's NCAA Western Regional Championships, the Arizona Men placed 14th and the Arizona Women placed 20th in a very competitive field. The meet was hosted by Washington.
 
RUNNERS
MEN
Brennan Foody, Noah Jodon, Gibson Kibia, Cooper Quigley, Ian Sanchez Lopez, Michael Urbanski
 
WOMEN
Sailor Hutton, Alisa Lyesina, Johnnie Mitchell, Sage Patzer, Sorcha Shiu
 
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