PROVO -- The Wildcats want to keep running outdoors.
To earn another race, they'll need to beat the Aggies and Cougars and a few others.
Looking for an opportunity to advance to the 2011 NCAA Division I championships, the Weber State men's and women's cross country teams run this at the NCAA Mountain Region Meet.
This year's meet, hosted by BYU, is scheduled for Saturday at East Bay Golf Course in Provo.
The men's 10,000 meter race goes first at 11:00 a.m., followed by the women's 6,000 meter race at noon.
The Mountain Region is a tough one. The top two teams automatic qualify for the NCAA championships -- set for Nov. 21 in Terre Haute, Indiana. Several teams -- including the Wildcats -- will be looking for at-large berths as well.
"The men's race has three great teams in BYU, Colorado and Northern Arizona," WSU coach Paul Pilkington said. "BYU is ranked third, Colorado fourth and NAU is 12th in the national poll. If we could sneak up and beat NAU, we would a chance at an at-large berth."
WAC champion Utah State is also a contender.
On the women's side, the Wildcats won the Big Sky Conference championships two weeks ago but will need to duplicate the effort.
"We are ranked sixth in the region right now while Colorado is ranked third nationally, so to get an at-large berth we would need to beat BYU or Colorado State," said Pilkington.
Individually, the top four runners in the meet not on a team that qualifies will gain entry to the NCAA championship meet as well.
New Mexico is the defending region men's champion. Weber State was 14th.
The top returning runner is BYU's Miles Batty who finished second last year in 29:30.1. WSU's top runner was Brett Hales (30:59.6), who finished 36th.
At the Big Sky meet, WSU ran second to Northern Arizona. Hales finished third, with Mike Hardy sixth and Jason Nance eigth to earn all-conference honors.
The three will be joined John Coyle, Alex Sorensen, Braden Perry and Chris Burnett in the race.
New Mexico also won the women's race at last year's regionals in Salt Lake City. Weber State was eighth. Individually, Texas Tech had a 1-2 finish from Risper Kimaiyo (20:02.5) and Rose Tanui (20:11.5). They both return for this year's race. The Wildcats were led by Amber Henry, who was 19th.
Hentry, now a sophomore, led the Wildcats to the Big Sky title but winning the race in 17:30.50. Also earning all-Big Sky honors for the Wildcats were Sara Callister (fourth) and Laken Hintze (sixth).
They will be joined by Taylor Thornley, Jenna Deelstra, Kayla Blackford and Suzanna Sorensen.
Southern Utah dominated the Summit League championships a couple of weeks ago, led by medalists Cameron Levins on the men's side, and Diana Medina-Mitchell in the women's race. SUU won the men's title, with the women second to North Dakota State.
Utah State was nearly as dominant in the Western Athletic Conference championships, with the men winning their sixth title in the last seven years. Senior Brian McKenna leads the Aggies. The WAC champion was joined in the top 10 by Daniel Howell (fourth), Kyle McKenna (fifth) and Hunter Nelson (ninth).
Ruth Hilton and junior Kaylee Campbell placed ninth and 10th at the WAC meet, with Jessie Chugg (12th) and Brittany Bushman (14th) earning league honors.
The BYU men's cross country team finished first, with Miles Batty finishing first overall, and the women finished second as the Cougars made their debut at the West Coast Conference Championships two weeks ago.
In their first year in the WCC, the men defeated the Portland Pilots, a team that had won 32 consecutive conference championships.
The Cougars finished five runners in the top ten, led by Batty, Jared Ward (fourth), Rex Shields (fifth), Alden Bahr (seventh) and Tylor Thatcher (ninth).
The BYU women ran second, led by Morgan Haws, finishing first for the Cougars and third overall in the 6K, with a time of 20:38. Katy Andrews (fourth) and Stephanie Jensen-Bills (14th).
The University of Utah women's cross country team, resh off their Pac-12 race two weeks ago, are aiming for a top five finish as well. The Utes will be led by veteran runners Alyssa Abbott and Amanda Mergaert.
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