Cross country has nothing to fear

From staff reports

As the season wraps up, the Washington State cross country teams seek to scare away the competition during the Pac-12 Championships in Oakland.

Both the men and women race today in the teams’ last races before NCAA Regionals. The Cougar women will take to the 6-kilometer course at 10 a.m. while the men will follow on the 8-kilometer course at 11 a.m.

Both teams enter today’s races ranked No. 10 in the West Region of the USTFCC rankings.

California is the host school of the event at the Metropolitan Links Golf Course.

“It’s a typical grass golf course, not too many hills,” WSU Head Coach Wayne Phipps said. “It’s something we’ve seen a couple of times this year so far.”

When asked about the championships, Phipps said he was, “more excited than anything else.”

“We’re at the best point of our season,” Phipps said. “(I’m) really excited to see what they can do on the course this Friday.”

On the women’s side, Coach Phipps noted senior Abby Regan as the top runner to watch for the Cougs. Regan, who was the top Cougar finisher and overall runner up, helped lead the Cougar women to victory at the Pre-Nationals Invitational two weeks ago.

Eight women will join Regan for the Cougars today. Redshirt senior Ruby Roberts, the second Cougar finisher at Pre-Nationals, will be running in the Pac-12 Championships for the fourth time in her career. In 2013, Roberts finished 15th overall and first for the Cougs.

For the Cougar men, Phipps identified redshirt senior Drew Jordan as the top runner to watch.

“Drew Jordan has led us almost from day one,” Phipps said. “(He) has looked better and better every week.”

Like Roberts, Jordan will also be running in his fourth Pac-12 Championship race. In 2012, when Drew last qualified for the meet, he finished 43rd overall.

The top returners from the 2013 meet are sophomore John Whelan (30th), senior Lee George (45th) and junior Forrest Shaffer (47th). As a team, the men look to improve on the sixth-place finish from last season.

In his first season as the Cougars’ head coach, Phipps added that the Pac-12 Championship added a certain level of pressure.

“I always put a lot of pressure on myself no matter what,” Phipps said. “I just want to make sure I’m doing everything I can to live up to those expectations.”

Results from the championship meet will be posted online at www.Pac-12.org. The meet will be televised on delay at 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 3 on the Pac-12 Networks.

Reporting by Nate Asbury