Meet Notes 
Championships Central
Oct. 26, 2011
TUCSON - The University of Arizona Wildcat No. 5 women's and men's cross country teams will start the championship portion of the 2011 season with the Pac-12 Championships on Sat., Oct. 29. Held at Wigwam Golf Resort in Litchfield Park, Ariz., the men's 8,000-meter race will run at 9 a.m. with the women's 6,000 meters following at 10 a.m.
The women's championship race will include No. 5 Arizona, Arizona State, No. 10 California, No. 16 Colorado, No. 11 Oregon, Oregon State, No. 8 Stanford, UCLA, USC, Utah, No. 2 Washington and Washington State. The men's championship race will include Arizona, No. 25 Arizona State, California, No. 6 Colorado, No. 23 Oregon, No. 4 Stanford, No. 20 UCLA, Washington and No. 22 Washington State.
In the current USTFCCCA weekly national poll, the Arizona women are seated at No. 5. The Wildcats are one of six Pac-12 teams listed in the top 30 with Washington at No. 2, Stanford at No. 8, California ranked 10th, Oregon at No. 11 and Colorado seated 16th. In the regional ranks, UA is one of seven Pac-12 teams listed in the West Region while Colorado leads the Mountain Region at No. 1. On the men's side, six Pac-12 teams hold a spot in the national top 30. In the NCAA West Region, seven Pac-12 teams are ranked. Colorado ranks No. 2 in the Mountain Region.
On the women's side, junior Elizabeth Apgar, junior Jen Bergman, freshman Stephanie Bulder, freshman Nicci Corbin, freshman Clea Formaz, senior Hanna Henson, sophomore Elvin Kibet, sophomore Erin Menefee, freshman Kate Penney, freshman Hanna Peterson, sophomore Amanda Russell and freshman Haley Stenquistare entered in the race. There will be a race time decision made on which 10 will compete.
For the men, freshman Kenji Bierig, senior Abdi Hassan, freshman Lawi Lalang, redshirt freshman Sam Macaluso, junior Rory McLeod, sophomore Noe Ramirez, freshman Dylan Souza, freshman Thomas Valente and sophomore Patrick Zachariasare entered in the race. There will be a race time decision made on who will compete.
Lalang has won and set course records in his three races this season. He is beating his next opponent by an average of 32 seconds. The women's squad hasn't finished outside of the top three in its five meets this season. Kibet has been the top finisher in three meets this season while Bergman was the top UA runner in one contest.
The women's program boasts five individual titles, including four-time winner Amy Skieresz, and six runner-up finishes in the team race (most recently 2010). The men have 10 individual titles to their credit and won seven team the titles, the most recent coming during the 1999 season.
The Wildcats head to the Valley this week to open defense of the State Farm Territorial Cup Rivalry Series crown they've won in the first two years of the competition. It's the first event in the 2011-12 head-to-head competition between the two schools, a point-based, 18-sport Cup series sponsored by State Farm. Arizona won the T-Cup Series the inaugural year by a score of 10.5 to 7.5, with the teams splitting the men's basketball point, and last year won the series by a score of 11.5 to 6.5 with the teams splitting the women's basketball contests.
Live results and a live blog can be found at Pac-12.org. A complete recap and results will be available at ArizonaWildcats.com after the races.
For continued coverage of Arizona Wildcat men's and women's cross country, visit ArizonaWildcats.com.
