After competing for three and a half months, it all comes down to one race: the NCAA West Regional.

A lot is on the line for this race, as a chance to qualify for the NCAA Championships is up for grabs.

“It’s what we’ve been gearing towards all year,” WSU cross country Coach Tim Riley said in a press release.

Last year, the Cougar men’s cross country team finished in seventh place and the women’s team finished in 19th place. WSU junior Todd Wakefield was the top WSU finisher and earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Division-I Cross Country Championships, according to wsucougars.com.

After a sixth place finish in the Pac-12 Championships two weeks ago and an eighth place ranking for the U.S. Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association Regional Rakings for the West Coast, the WSU men are ready for their upcoming meet on Friday.

“I think the men can be in the top six,” Riley said. “I think it kind of depends on who we beat to be in the top six. The important thing for us is to beat teams who have points.”

Riley said in a press conference Tuesday that senior Andrew Gonzales has still been looking good in practice, along with Wakefield.

This will be the first 10-kilometer race for the Cougar freshmen men as well.

The WSU women are familiar with running on this course, where the NCAA West Regional meet will be held. In the beginning of October, the WSU women competed in the NCAA Preview, which was the same course as the one they run on Friday.

“We’re a completely different team than we were a month and a half ago since we were back down there,” Riley said in a press conference.

Two weeks ago the WSU women finished in 10th place at the Pac-12 Championships.

“I think they’re going to find themselves in a different territory from where they were as far as where they are in the race and how confident they should be going into it,” Riley said.

The men’s 10,000-meter race is scheduled to begin Friday at 10:30 a.m. and the women’s 6,000-meter race is scheduled for Friday at 11:45 a.m. in Sacramento, Calif.