Long Beach State University Athletics
49ers Drive To Riverside For Big West Championships
10/31/2008 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Oct. 31, 2008
LONG BEACH - Long Beach State travels to the Inland Empire this Saturday morning for the Big West Conference Cross Country Championships hosted by UC Riverside. The women's 6K race is set to begin at 8:30 a.m., while the men's 8K meet is scheduled an hour later. Both races will be held at UCR's Agricultural Operations Course.
The 49ers will be looking to upset the favorites of Cal Poly in the men's field and UC Santa Barbara on the women's side. The Mustangs are ranked No. 23 nationally by the U.S. Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association, while the Gauchos are at No. 9 in the west region and will be going for their third consecutive title. The Beach looks to improve their results from last year's championships in San Luis Obispo as both men's and women's teams finished in fourth place.
"We are extremely eager for the Big West Championships.," said 49er Distance Coach Patrick Cunniff. "It is a great meet and the competition will be fierce this year. We know both our teams are ready to run and fired up to compete."
The women's squad ranked No. 15 in the USTFCCCA West Regional poll, will be led by a trio of seniors of Sarah Apgar, Carly Harris and Kristina Wilson. Apgar finished in sixth place at last year's championship with a time of 22:06. In her last race, Apgar finished in first place at the Santa Clara Invitational in Sunnyvale where she recorded a personal best of 17:14. Harris and Wilson finished in 17th and 21st respectively with times of 22:49 and 22:53.
"The women's race is probably as deep as it has ever been but there is not a clear-cut favorite," said Cunniff. "This makes it nerve-wracking but also a great opportunity. Anything can happen as we go in excited and like our chances. Our three awesome seniors, Sarah Apgar, Carly Harris and Kristina Wilson, will lead us and will be well supported by Missy Barclay, Jessica Barnard and Alisia Barajas.
On the men's side, the 49ers will be charged with a young group of freshman and sophomores, that will be led by Matt Maldonado and Travis Kuhlman. Both runners finished 13th and 14th respectively at last year's Big West Championships, with times of 24:57 and 25:02. Raul Arcos will also make a strong impact for the 49ers in his first season with The Beach.
"For the men, we are looking to see how much we have matured and how far we have developed," said Cunniff. "I think the guys are primed for their best race of the year. I know they are excited to test themselves against this high level competition and see how we stack up. Our strength is that any guy on the team can step up and we may have seven, eight or nine guys all finishing very close to each other. Look for Travis Kuhlman, Matt Maldonado and Raul Arcos to be at the front of our pack, but honestly any one we are bringing is capable of a big race and helping the team."
Players Mentioned
