Oct. 28, 2011

LOGAN, Utah - Utah State's men and women's cross country teams will compete for the Western Athletic Conference Championship on Saturday, Oct. 29, at the Kane'ohe Klipper Golf Course in Honolulu at 12 p.m. (MT). The men will run a eight-kilometer race while the women will run in a five-kilometer race.

Utah State's men were picked as the pre-championship favorite in the WAC's coaches poll, while the women were picked to finish third.

The Aggie men received five first-place votes and 25 points, while Idaho captured second-place with 20 points with one first-place vote. New Mexico State claimed the third spot with 18 points, while with 13 points, Fresno State was voted fourth with San Jose State and Louisiana Tech tied for fifth-place with seven points each.

On the women's side, Utah State received 38 points, including one first place vote. Idaho, the 2010 WAC women's champion, was selected first with five first-place votes and 46 overall points. The 2009 champion New Mexico State followed closely in second with two first-place votes and 43 points. Fresno State received 31 points to capture the fourth spot, while Nevada was ranked fifth with 27 points. Hawai`i was selected sixth with 17 points, followed by San Jose State in seventh with 15 points. Louisiana Tech was selected eighth with seven points.

USU's men won five-straight WAC Cross Country Championships from 2005-2009 before finishing third in 2010, while Utah State's women won titles in 2006 and 2008 and finished in second-place the last two years. Senior Brian McKenna is the only USU cross country athlete to have won an individual WAC title as he finished first in 2009 with a time of 26:00.1.

In its last action, the Aggie men were fourth while the USU women were 15th at the University of Arkansas hosted Chile Pepper Festival on Oct. 15 at Fayetteville, Ark. Captain Brian McKenna led the Utah State men as he finished 15th out of 288 runners with a time of 30:09.5, while sophomore Kyle McKenna and senior Daniel Howell finished 35th (30:37.4) and 40th (30:47.0), respectively.

The Utah State women were led by sophomore Hannah Williams, clocking in at 22:16.1 in 81st-place. Following Williams was junior Kaylee Campbell's finish at 22:21.3 in 85th-place.

Following the WAC Championship in Honolulu, those who qualify will compete in the 2011 NCAA Mountain Region Championships, hosted by BYU, in Orem, Utah on Nov. 12. The top 15 of both the men and women will then move on to the NCAA Championships on Nov. 21 in Terre Haute, Ind.

Fans can follow Utah State Athletics, including Aggie track & field and cross country, at http://twitter.com/USUAthletics or on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics.