POCATELLO, Idaho – Rounding out their season, the Idaho State Men's and Women's cross country teams travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico, Friday, November 11, to compete at the 2022 NCAA Mountain Regional, hosted by the University of New Mexico.
Competing in the Mountain Regional are 19 schools including Big Sky competition, Montana, Montana State, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, and Weber State.
Competition at this regional will be steep for both men's and women's with multiple nationally ranked teams competing.
According to head coach Nate Houle, "This is the deepest women's region ever assembled in NCAA history… We've got teams that could make the NCAA meet just trying to stay in the top 10 tomorrow."
The intense competition is being looked at by the team as an opportunity to be a part of something great rather than a stressor, with Houle telling his athletes, "to expect a fast pace and to enjoy being part of it."
"I think the stress is gone from a perspective of needing to do certain things. What I've been trying to tell the team is that we've got nothing to lose so let's get in there and really see what we can do," Houle added.
The race distance will be increasing for both Men's and Women's with Men running a 10K and Women running a 6K.
The past week the team has been taking it light, doing just enough to stay sharp and expect to go into regionals feeling ready and rested.
"It's a really fast course", said Houle, "we shouldn't be too worried about much out there other than running fast."
The Men's team will be racing seven and the Women's will be racing 10.
Racing for the Men's is Seth Babbel, Eric Christen, Sunny Gunn, Sam Jones, Dylan Mannion, Gavin Pollock, and Brandon Walker.
Racing for the Women's is Sulette Ferreyra Serna, Madi Kenyon, Lara Maccabee, Mary Kate Marshall, Mya McKown, McKinley Scott, Kamber Smith, Presley Timmons, Cassandra Vasquez, and Keely Wolf.
Schedule/Results:
