University of San Francisco Athletics

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco men's and women's cross country teams hit the course Friday with bids to the NCAA Championships on the line, as the 2018 NCAA West Regional has arrived at Haggin Oaks Golf Course in Sacramento, Calif.
 
MEET DETAILS
 
WOMEN'S RACE: 11 a.m. (6 kilometers)
MEN'S RACE: Noon (10 km)
 
LIVE VIDEO: http://bit.ly/2JfY8PX
LIVE RESULTS: http://rtspt.com/events/ncaa/d1westxc18/
 
LOCATION: Haggin Oaks Golf Course, Sacramento, Calif. (Hosted by Sacramento State)
 
DEFENDING CHAMPIONS – Men: Portland; Women: San Francisco


 
MEET OUTLOOK
 
The San Francisco women enter as the defending champions of the West Region, having placed three in the top-10 last year before placing second overall at the national championship.  This year's Dons squad is deep as well, but so is this year's field. USF enters Friday's race ranked No. 10 in the West Region, with Pac-12 champion Oregon leading the field at No. 1.
 
The San Francisco men have been among the top-10 at the NCAA West Regional in each of the last three years, including an eighth-place finish in 2016 on the same course. The men enter the race ranked No. 10 in the West Region after gaining two spots following the West Coast Conference Championship on Oct. 27.
 
The top two teams in both races will automatically advance to the NCAA Championships. The remaining teams will be eligible for one of 13 at-large berths which will be handed out by the committee.
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
The women's team made another big leap at the WCC Championship after also showing much improvement at the Pre-Nationals Invitational on Oct. 13. San Francisco finished third with 76 points, far outdistancing fourth-place Loyola Marymount (115) and placing four among the top-15.
 
Tatjana Schulte led the Dons for the second straight meet, finishing seventh in 21 minutes, 5.60 seconds. She was the lone runner not wearing a BYU or Portland jersey to finish among the top-10, and beat out both of those schools' 4 through 9 runners. Megan Davies was not far behind, finishing 11th overall as USF's No. 2 runner just 12 seconds behind Schulte in 21:17.60.
 
Chris Olley finished sixth overall at the WCC Championship and the USF men placed fourth as a team, just behind three nationally ranked programs. The Dons scored 120 points in the championship race, only 26 behind No. 26-ranked Gonzaga who finished third.
 
Jack Rowe gave the Dons two in the top-20 with a 17th-place finish in 24:21.50. Scott Halstead was San Francisco's third runner in 30th place, breaking the 25-minute mark with a time of 24:59.60. Daniel Maneloveg (35th, 25:15.20) and Caleb McClain (40th, 25:31.90) packed well to round out the Dons' top-five, helping USF's 3-4-5 group finish within 32.3 seconds of each other.