Broncos Aim for Automatic Bids to Nationals

Friday, November 9

Sacramento, Calif. (Haggin Oaks GC)

Noon MT

Boise State

NCAA West Regional

11/8/2018 3:26:00 PM | Cross Country

FloTrack Live Stream ($)Live Results West Region Notebook

By: Nate Lowery

BOISE, Idaho – The championship season will continue this Friday, as the Boise State cross country teams will compete at the NCAA West Regional, the final qualifying step for the national championships.

LOGISTICS: The Broncos will return to Sacramento, Calif.'s Haggin Oaks Golf Course – the site of the 2016 regional. The men will also see an increase in distance, as the race their first of two 10-kilometer events this Friday.

Women's 6-kilometer: Noon MT
Men's 10-kilometer: 1 p.m. MT

LIVE: Record Timing will provide free live results – including a live splits scoreboard – for fans to follow at the link to the right. FloTrack will also be on site providing a live stream of the race for their FloPro subscribers.

Follow @broncosportsxc on Twitter for more live updates during both races.

LINEUP: For the final two competitions of the season, Boise State will be allowed to travel eight runners, with seven being able to toe the starting line.

Men- Elijah Armstrong, Riley Campbell, Addison Dehaven, Miler Haller, Jeff Lautenslager, Ahmed Muhumed, Andrew Rafla, Yusuke Uchikoshi
Women- Alexis Fuller, Claire Graves, Kyra Lopez, Clare O'Brien, Allie Ostrander, Maxine Paholek, Gracie Tostenson, Emily Venters

RANKED OPPONENTS:
Men- No. 4 Portland, No. 5 Stanford, No. 7 Washington No. 9 Boise State, No. 11 Oregon, No. 22 Washington State, No. 28 Gonzaga
Women- No. 2 Oregon, No. 3 Boise State, No. 6 Stanford, No. 17 Washington, No. 19 Portland, UCLA (RV), Oregon State (RV), Cal Poly (RV)

.@OregonTF & @BroncoSportsXC women meet for the first time.
— FloTrack (@FloTrack) November 6, 2018

LOOKIN' FOR AN INVITATION: The Broncos are looking to receive a bid to the NCAA National Championship this weekend at the NCAA West Regional. The top two teams in each region will receive an automatic bid to the national championship, leaving 13 at-large bid for teams across the nation.

Boise State has received an automatic bid twice, when the women tied with Stanford for second in 2014. The Broncos won the tiebreaker catapulting the team to their first-ever appearance at nationals. They again placed second in 2015.

With so much elite talent in one race and the potential for eight qualifying teams, the West region men may put on the most entertaining race of the weekend. @BenWeasley gives you another excellent preview below...
— The Stride Report (@TheStrideReport) November 8, 2018

COLLECTING POINTS: Thanks to both the men's and women's teams' impressive performances this season, the Broncos have accumulated a resume that is likely to earn them a berth to the national championship should they finish outside the top two in Sacramento.

In the latest KOLAS predictions, the men have 11 points — the most of any men's team. The women, meanwhile, have 10 KOLAS points, and are currently projected to secure an AQ to nationals.

KOLAS is a point system used to determine at-large bids to nationals. Teams earn points based on their wins over AQ teams during the regular season.

In case you couldn't tell, we're publishing a lot of previews tonight...@Ivanxcky details a stacked region filled with powerhouse programs and national contenders. How many teams will make it out of the women's West region this weekend?
— The Stride Report (@TheStrideReport) November 8, 2018