PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS NEXT FOR WSU CROSS COUNTRY
The Washington State men's and women's cross country teams will compete at the Pac-12 Cross Country Championships hosted by the University of Oregon in Springfield, Ore., Fri., Oct. 27, at the Springfield Golf Course...women's 6,000m race will begin at 11:10 a.m...men's 8,000m race will begin at 12:10 p.m...the course consists of two relatively flat loops - an outer loop and a finish loop...the outer loop is approximately 2,320 meters in length, and the finishing loop is approximately 1,350 meters in length...schools enter 10 runners per gender but only the top five count in team scoring (by place) with lowest team score winning...Pac-12 Network will provide LIVE COVERAGE with Jim Watson, Dwight Stones and Lewis Johnson announcing...results will be posted at wsucougars.com when available.

LAST TIME: At the 2016 Pac-12 Championships, the Washington State men's team finished fifth and the women's team placed 11th...leading the Cougar men, Sam Levora finished 15th and leading the women, Devon Bortfeld finished 37th.

COUGARS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Washington State University men's cross country team moved up in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Rankings, published Oct. 17, and the West Region Rankings, published Oct. 16, after a 13th place finish at the Nuttycombe Invitational in Madison and competing at the Inland Empire Championships in Lewiston...WSU men's team is ranked No. 20 in the USTFCCCA National Week 5 Poll, moving up from No. 29 in the previous week's rankings...other nationally ranked Pac-12 teams include No. 5 Colorado, No. 6 Stanford, No. 8 Oregon, No. 14 UCLA, and No. 21 Washington...in the West Region rankings, the Cougar men moved up from No. 8 in Week 4, published Oct. 2, to No.5...the WSU women's team dropped from the West Region Rankings, after a No. 15 ranking in Week 4, published Oct. 2...complete national and regional rankings are on pages 2 and 3 of this release.

WSU MEN COMPETING AT PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS:
Cameron Dean    So.    Spokane, Wash. (Mead HS)
At Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational Men's 5 Mile Open finished 8th...at Inland Empire Championships finished 3rd on team/21st overall.

Jake Finney    Jr.    Post Falls, Idaho (Lake City HS)
At Nuttycombe Invitational finished 4th on team/ 104th overall...2016: Pac-12 Championships finished 8th on team/46th overall.

Justin Janke    So.    Spokane, Wash. (North Central HS)
Finished 6th on team/100th overall at Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitaional...at Inland Empire Championships finished 1st on team/6th overall...2016: Pac-12 Championships 9th on team/48th overall...finished 8th at 2017 USATF XC National Junior Men's Championships...4th place at 13th Annual NACAC XC Championships and led USA Team to Gold medal.

Reid Muller    Jr.    Pitt Meadows, B.C. Canada (Pitt Meadows)
At Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational Men's 5 Mile Open finished 6th...at Inland Empire Championships finished 2nd on team/20th overall.

Paul Ryan    Rs-So.    Moscow, Idaho (Logos HS)
At Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational finished 5th on team/91st overall...at Nuttycombe Invitational finished 5th on team/147th overall...2016: Pac-12 Champs 6th on team/40th overall; NCAA Championships, 6th Cougar, 220th overall.

Nathan Tadesse    Jr.    Surrey, B.C. Canada (N. Surrey Senior)
At Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational finished 4th on team/77th overall...at Nuttycombe Invitational finished 7th on team/207th overall...2016: Pac-12 Champs 5th on team/38th overall; NCAA Championships, 3rd Cougar, 113th overall/90th team scoring.

Chandler Teigen    Jr.     Anatone, Wash. (Asotin HS)
At Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational finished 1st on team/19th overall...at Nuttycombe Invitational finished 2nd on team/55th overall...2016: Pac-12 Champs 7th on team/41st overall; NCAA Championships, 5th Cougar, 145th overall/116th team scoring. 

Nathan Wadhwani    Jr.     Maple Ridge, B.C. Canada (Fox Secondary)
At Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational finished 2nd on team/38th overall...at Nuttycombe Invitational finished 3rd on team/96th overall...2016: Pac-12 Champs 4th on team/27th overall; NCAA West Region finished 5th on team/47th overall; NCAA Championships, was spiked early in race and did not finish.

Matthew Watkins    Fr.    Mill Creek, Wash. (Jackson HS)
At Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational finished 3rd on team/68th overall...at Nuttycombe Invitational finished 6th on team/158th overall.

Michael Williams    Sr.     Richland, Wash. (Richland HS)
At Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational finished 8th on team/121st overall...at Nuttycombe Invitational finished 1st on team/39th overall...2016: two-time All-West Region honors; Pac-12 Champs 2nd on team/24th overall; NCAA Championships, led No. 18 team to 14th-place team finish with 30th place finish; ALL-AMERICA honors.

WSU WOMEN COMPETING AT PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS:
Kiyena Beatty    Fr.    Temecula, Calif. (Great Oak HS)
At Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational finished 4th on team/106th overall...at Nuttycombe Invitational finished 5th on team/73rd overall.

Devon Bortfeld    Sr.    Sammamish, Wash. (Eastlake HS)
At Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational finished 2nd on team/31st overall... at Nuttycombe Invitational finished 2nd on team/12th overall...2016: Pac-12 Champs finished 1st on team/37th overall...at NCAA West Region led Cougars team, 38th overall...in WSU all-time records; 3,000m 7th (9:30.98), 5,000m 3rd (16.16.42i), Steeplechase 4th (10:23.28).

Josie Brown    Jr.    Coeur d'Alene, Idaho (Coeur d'Alene HS)
At Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational finished 3rd on team/100th overall...at Nuttycombe Invitational DNF...2016: Pac-12 Champs 4th on team/81st overall; NCAA West Region finished 4th on team, 143rd overall.

Katherine Dittmann    Jr.    Snohomish, Wash. (Glacier Peak HS)
At Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational finished 9th on team/149th overall...at Inland Empire Championships finished 3rd on team/31st overall...2016: Pac-12 Champs 7th on team/89th overall; NCAA West Region finished 6th on team, 159th overall.

Marie Gaudin    So.    Arlingon, Wash. (Arlington HS)
At Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational finished 6th on team/135th overall...at Nuttycombe Invitational finished 6th on team/74th overall.

Melissa Hruska    So.    Snoqualmie, Wash. (Mount Si HS)
At Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational finished 5th on team/124th overall...at Nuttycombe Invitational finished 3rd on team/48th overall.

Samantha King-Shaw    Fr.    Sparks, Nev. (Reed HS)
At Inland Empire Championships finished 1st on team/14th overall. 

Vallery Korir    Jr.    Iten, Kenya (Murray State)
At Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational finished 1st on team/15th overall...at Nuttycombe Invitational won the Women's Open...transferred from Murray State in January 2017...WSU record holder in 10k at 33:58.17...3000m time of 9:30.98 is seventh best in WSU all-time...5000m track time of 16:36.40 is 10th-best at WSU.

Morgan Lash    So.    Anchorage, Alaska(South Anchorage HS)
At Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational finished 7th on team/139th overall...at Nuttycombe Invitaional finished 4th on team/71st overall...2016: Pac-12 Champs 3rd on team/77th overall; NCAA West Region finished 3rd on team, 135th overall.

Desi Stinger    So.    Temecula, Calif. (Great Oak HS)
At Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational finished 8th on team/141st overall...at Inland Empire Chmapionships finished 2nd on team/22nd overall...2016: Pac-12 Championships finished 9th on team/95th overall.