Hitting the road; cross country gears up for Stanford Invitational

From staff reports

After a strong outing last weekend at the Sundodger Invitational, tomorrow the Cougar cross country team travels to the Stanford Invitational. 

The meet will feature nearly 3,000 competitors in a group consisting of high school, collegiate and unaffiliated runners. The four Pac-12 schools at the meet will be California, Stanford, Southern California and WSU.

Both the men’s and women’s teams will feature a select group of runners, as chosen by Head Coach Wayne Phipps and Assistant Coach Allix Potratz-Lee.

The men’s team enters the Stanford Invitational as the No. 10 ranked team in the United States Track & Field and Cross Country West Region rankings. The team looks to continue its improvement after the last meet in Seattle.

Senior runner Drew Jordan looks to lead the Cougars toward their third win of the season. Jordan, who was the top Cougar finisher at the Sundodger Invitational, will try to improve on his team leading 8,000-meter time (24:01) this week.

Sophomore standout Josh Whelan will be another front runner for the Cougs. Last week, Whelan finished second on the team and fourth overall (24:08) in the 8,000-meter race.

On the women’s side, the Cougs have selected 10 runners to compete Saturday in California.

Heading into the weekend, the women’s team is ranked No. 13 overall in the USTFCC West Region rankings.

As the top overall finisher at the Cougars’ first meet and the third place finisher at the Sundodger Invitational, junior Abby Regan will try to continue her success so far this season.

This week also marks the return of senior standout Ruby Roberts. As the runner-up at the Clash of the Inland Northwest meet Aug. 30, Roberts did not compete at the Sundodger Invitational.

The Stanford Invitational will take place at the Stanford Golf Course. The men’s 8,000-meter race kicks off at 9:50 a.m., while the women’s 6,000-meter race will start at 10:30 a.m. Both team and individual results can be found online at wsucougars.com when available.

Reporting by Nate Asbury