ASU cross country is heading back to Washington for the NCAA West Regional meet on Friday, 270 miles west of Colfax, a tiny rural town that hosted the Pac-12 Championships on Oct. 30. This time, they're off to the Emerald City.
The meet in Seattle will determine whether the Sun Devils will qualify for the NCAA National Championships next Saturday in Louisville, Kentucky.
“(Our) number one primary objective is to stay calm and just stay fresh all week,” head coach Louie Quintana said. “We have a clear objective of what we need to get done to make it to the NCAAs, but we also have less stress or less pressure on us. We’re not projected to finish really high, even though our expectations are to finish high.”
At regionals last year on the women’s side, senior Adriana Olivas secured the 20th overall position with her time of 20:48.3.
In 2014, senior Cristina Juan Torres crossed the finish line at 21:32.2, notching 61st place overall. About 25 seconds behind Juan Torres, junior Jenna Maack finished 87th with a time of 21:57.2.
Quintana said unlike last year at the West Regionals, this season everyone is healthy going into Friday’s event.
“We’re 100 percent healthy,” Quintana said. “This year, we’ve got everybody ready to go. Part of that is the last six weeks of training just have been really good.”
This year, the Sun Devils will feature freshman Samantha Ortega, who has consistently been one of ASU’s top runners.
“My goal is to honestly just run as fast as I can,” Ortega said. “The only goal I could ever have is just to make sure I am giving it my all, 100 percent, the entire race.”
On the men’s side last year, redshirt junior CJ Albertson was the first Sun Devil across the finish line, securing 25th overall with a time of 30:03.4 in the men’s 10-kilometer race.
Junior Bernie Montoya was close behind last year, notching 30th with a time of 30:08.7.
In 2014, redshirt senior Ryan Norton clocked in at 30:18.3 and took 41st overall. Redshirt senior Daniel Wong completed the 10-kilometer race at 30:28.5, achieving 51st in the meet.
Redshirt senior Jeff Bickert and redshirt sophomore Cody Brazeal finished back-to-back last year in 82nd and 83rd overall, respectively. Bickert’s time was 31:07.9, while Brazeal’s was 31:09.3.
Redshirt senior Ryan Herson, at 117th overall, was the last Sun Devil to cross the finish line in 2014 with a time of 31:40.7.
“It’s always a big meet to determine what teams are going to go to nationals,” Herson said. “It’s always a big competition, especially in the west, so always look[ing] forward to competing against some of the best.”
For Herson this year, it will be his final time racing in an ASU uniform at West Regionals.
“Every regional meet is special,” Herson said. “I really want to go out there and enjoy it. It’s always fun to be able to (represent) this region and be able to run with some of the best teams and individuals in the country.”
The 2015 NCAA Cross Country West Regional will be hosted by the University of Washington. The meet will be held at the Jefferson Park Golf Course with the women’s 6-kilometer race beginning at 1 p.m. followed by the men’s 10-kilometer race at 2 p.m.
Reach the reporter at michael.baron@asu.edu or follow @Michael_Baron96 on Twitter.
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