The UA men’s and women’s cross country teams travel to Fresno, Calif. for the NCAA West Region Championships this weekend.

The Wildcats will send eight men and eight women to the Sunday event, to be held at Fresno State’s Woodward Park.

The women’s 6k event will take off at 11 a.m. PT, followed by the men’s 10k race at noon.

Robert Cheseret of the men’s team and Beth Hoge of the women’s team will be expected to lead the way for the Wildcats.

Cheseret took first place honors at the Pacific 10 Conference championships Oct. 30, leading the Wildcat men to a sixth-place finish. The UA women also finished sixth overall led by Hoge’s 18th-place individual finish.

Hoge and Cheseret were the Wildcats’ top finishers Oct. 16 as well, leading the UA squads to 22nd- and 16th-place finishes, respectively, at the NCAA pre-nationals.

Hoge finished 72nd overall to pace the UA women, while Cheseret finished 15th overall.

The top two teams and top four individuals at this weekend’s meet will earn automatic berths to the NCAA Championships.

The NCAA will then announce next week the 13 teams selected for at-large bids to the NCAA Championships.

Eric Chavez, Kevin Engelhardt, Kenny Frank, Josh Ludwig, Ryan Ludwig, Chris Ogle and Mohamed Trafeh will join Cheseret on the men’s side, while Shannon Durkin, Adrienne Goeller, Ashley Ippolito, Karen Langdorf, Emily McGregor, Susan Mortenen and Amber Steen will accompany Hoge for the women’s team.

Seven of each squad’s eight traveling members will be able to compete in the event.