Cross country headed to the Beaver State for second fall race

PULLMAN, Wash. -- Washington State men's and women's cross country teams travel to Oregon this week for the Bill Dellinger Invitational on Friday, September 23, at the Pine Ridge Golf Club in Springfield, Ore.
 
The men's 8k race is scheduled for Friday morning at 11 a.m. and the women's 6k race is set to begin at 11:45 a.m.
 
LAST TIME OUT:
Both teams saw multiple runners finish in the top-five at the season-opening Washington State Invitational.  The Cougar women dominated the 4K race and claimed four of the top five spots as Alaina Stone-Boggs (13:30.2), Neema Kimtai (13:49.0), Caroline Jerotich (13:55.8), and Mevin Jelagat (13:59.5) placed second-fifth, respectively. Alaina Stone-Boggs, Pietra Da Silva, Sophia Cushman and Mevin Jelagat each finished the first meet of the year with personal-best 4k times.
 
On the men's side, sophomores Brian Barsaiya (17:45.0) and Kelvin Limo (18:00.7) secured the top two spots, respectively, in the WSU Invitational 6K race.  The win for Barsaiya was his first of the 2022 season as the WSU men's team finished the meet with 10 personal bests including 7 freshman runners who made their collegiate racing debut in Colfax.
 
2021 BILL DELLINGER RECAP:
Both men's and women's teams finished in the top-10 at last season's Bill Dellinger Invitational. On the men's side, Leif Swanson (24:19.8), Kelvin Limo (24:22.2), and Brian Barsaiya (23:31.5) all set 8k PR's on the day while Alaina Stone Boggs (20:32.6) reached a personal-best 6k time for the women's team.
 
Stone Boggs set the pace for the WSU women, as the sophomore was the first Cougar to cross 6,000-meter course in 20:32.6 to finish 20th overall. Stone Boggs recorded an average mile time of 5:30.6.
 
Brian Barsaiya posted a top-10 23:31.5, earning him eighth overall out of 149 runners in the field.
 
As a team, Washington State's women placed 10th out of 17 teams with 279 points, collectively.  The men finished seventh out of 14 teams at last season's Bill Dellinger Invitational. The Cougars ended the race with a total of 182 points.
 
IN THE RANKINGS:
Coming off a win against the Idaho Vandals, the women's team made the largest improvement of any team in the West Region, moving up three spots in the most recent USTFCCCA Regional poll from 15th to 10th in this week's West Region rankings.  Washington State's men stayed at No. 10 in the West Region for a third week in a row in the latest poll.
 
UP NEXT:    
Washington State will see another two-week break in action before its next race, the Inland Empire Challenge in Lewiston, Idaho on Saturday, October 8.
 
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