LBSU Travels To Oregon For NCAA West Regional
49ers looking to make a run for National Championships next week

November 7, 2007

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FIRST RUN: The Long Beach State cross-country team travels up the coast to Eugene, Ore. as they compete in the NCAA West Regional at the Springfield Country Club hosted by the University of Oregon ... the men's 10K race is scheduled to begin at 11 am and the women's 6K will start at 12:15 pm ... the two top teams from both the men's and women's races automatically advance to the NCAA Championships on Monday, Nov. 19 in Terre Haute, Ind. ... at-large bids for teams and individuals will be announced once the NCAA Regionals have been completed.

CUNNIFF ON NCAA REGIONAL: "We are excited and eager for the NCAA West Regional," said Distance Coach Patrick Cunniff. "It is one of the meets we've been building towards all season and we will go all out to finish our season on a very strong note. Both the men and women are ranked 15th in the region, and it is always our goal to beat our ranking. It is a tough region and a deep region; but that is also what makes it so fun. You get to compete against the very best (national #1 team in both races) and see how you match up both as a program and as individuals. Dylan Jaedtke is ready for his best race of the year and should be in contention for all-region honors. We also want to see the women's team build on their great performance at the conference meet and carry that over to an even bigger more competitive meet. Sarah Apgar has run well all year and is really ready to compete."

LAST YEAR AT THE NCAA: The 49er men and women finished in 12th place at last year's NCAA West Regional in Gresham, Ore. ... LBSU was just shy of having two runners receiving all-region honors as Jenessa Botello and Wolhan Ovalle finished 30th and 32nd place ... in order to earn all-region honors, individuals must finish in the top-25 ... Junior Kristina Wilson finished in 78th place with a time of 23:17.99 and Dylan Jaedtke finished in 61st with a time of 31:59.12.

LBSU IN THE RANKINGS: Both men's and women's teams are ranked in the latest USTCCCA polls as both teams are ranked at No. 15 in the West Regional ... this is the second consecutive week for the 49er women being in the top 15 and this is the sixth consecutive week the 49er men have been ranked.

BEACH FINISHES 4TH AT BWC: The 49er men's and women's cross country teams finished in fourth place at the Big West Conference Championships on Saturday morning ... both teams were projected to finish in sixth in the pre-season Big West polls that was released in August ... Sarah Apgar led the 49er women as she finished in sixth place with a time of 22:06, followed by Kristina Wilson (22:49) in 17th, Missy Barclay (22:51) in 18th and Carly Harris (22:53) in 21st ... Apgar, Wilson, Barclay and Harris finished in the top-five all-time finishes in LBSU course history for the Big West Championships ... on the men's side, Dylan Jaedtke led The Beach as he finished in 13th place with a time of 25:49. Travis Kuhlman (26:40) placed 27th, Josh Arrieta (27:01), Mark Thomas (27:31) and Steven DeCastro (27:42) finished 35th, 44th and 51st ... the 4th place finish for the men, marked the fourth best finish in LBSU history.

APGAR RECEIVES HONORS: Junior Sarah Apgar received All-Big West Conference for her sixth place at the Big West Championships in San Luis Obispo ... Apgar was also named Big West Cross Country Tri-Athlete of the Week for her performance at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational as she finished the 5K course in a personal and program best of 17:21, besting the old school mark by five seconds and her seasonal mark by 57 seconds.

THE COACH: Patrick Cunniff takes over the duties as cross-country coach as he spent the last two years as an assistant at Texas Christian University ... Cunniff coached six NCAA Division I National Championship qualifiers during his two years at TCU (2004-06), including three cross country student-athletes ... the TCU women finished second at the Conference USA Championships in 2004 and at the '04 South Central Regional a TCU runner won the individual cross country championship. Cunniff coached 10 student-athletes to individual conference championships during his tenure (1 cross country, 6 indoor, 3 outdoor) ... during the spring of 2006 Cunniff served as the interim head coach at TCU. He began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant coach for women's track and cross country at the University of Texas ... in his time at UT the Longhorns won the 2003 and 2004 Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships while also winning the 2003 South Central Regional Cross Country title ... for the past year he has served as a program coach and team coordinator for Luke's Locker, an adult program in 5k, 10k and marathon training ... Cunniff earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Georgia with a degree in political science ... he was a three-year letterwinner in cross country and track for the Bulldogs.