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Cross country teams steps toward NCAA Championships

The UA men's and women's cross country teams travel to Oregon this weekend to compete in the NCAA West Regional tomorrow.

The meet will be hosted by the University of Portland at Blue Lake State Park in Gresham, Ore. The men's 10,000-meter race begins at 11 a.m. MST and the 5,000-meter women's race follows at noon MST.

The top two teams from the nine regions nationwide will advance to the NCAA championships in Bloomington, Ind., as well as 13 at-large teams from the various regions.

"This week on both the men's and women's side, the main emphasis is to qualify for the NCAA Championships," UA head coach Dave Murray said in a recent press release. "With the men that is going to be a lot easier than on the women's side."

Leading the men's team will be No. 1 runner senior Micheil Jones. He placed second at the Pacific 10 Conference Championships on Oct. 30.

Also running will be seniors Jeremy Lyon and Brent Pedersen, junior David Lopez, and sophomores Steve Smith, Tom Prindiville and Mike Cramer.

The men's team moved up two spots to No. 4 in this weeks MONDO Cross Country poll.

Leading the pack of women into competition this weekend will be sophomore Tara Chaplin. She also had a good showing at the Pac-10 championships, placing seventh.

Also running will be senior Maia Wright, junior Katrin Engelen, sophomores Erin Doherty and Jennifer Burris, and freshmen Kimberly Bates and Mandee Ash.

The Wildcats are again without senior Kristen Parrish, who is out for the remainder of the season with a stress fracture in her right leg.

Last year the Wildcat women won the West Regional, but without recently graduated Amy Skieresz running, that feat may be hard to duplicate.

"Our women are going to have to go out there and run at a different level than we have been," Murray said.

Both Arizona teams will face some of the top teams in the nation. The West region is considered to be the best region in the country. It consists of teams from the Pac-10, Big West and schools from the Mountain West, Big Sky and Western Athletic Conference.