CSUSB runners head out at start of race at UC Riverside earlier this season.
11/6/2009 4:33:20 PM
SAN FRANCISCO. – Cal State San Bernardino’s relatively young and inexperienced women’s cross country team will be among an elite group of teams competing in the 2009 NCAA Division II West Regional championship Saturday in Speedway Meadow at Golden Gate Park.
The Coyotes, coming off an eighth-place finish at the CCAA conference championships are hoping to be among the top 10 teams after the finish of Saturday’s 6,000 meter run, scheduled for 9 a.m.
CSUSB will be competing against 20 or more teams from the region, including CCAA champion Chico State, ranked No. 1 in the West Region and No. 2 in the nation.
Other nationally-ranked teams in the meet are No. 5 Alaska-Anchorage, No. 6 Seattle Pacific, and No. 10 Western Washington.
Regionally-ranked teams in the meet besides the above-named squads are West Region No. 5 UC San Diego, No. 6 Cal Poly Pomona, No. 7 Cal State L.A., No. 8 Northwest Nazarene, No. 9 BYU Hawaii and No. 10 Cal State Stanislaus.
The Coyotes will have eight runners competing in the regional, led by four freshmen – Samantha Borman, Rebekah Frazier, Deserae Perez and Courtney Ciraulo – along with sophomore Niki Chesnut. Seniors Anjuli Nieto and Angelica Lopez will make their presence known as well.
Borman has been the team’s No. 1 runner this season. She finished 21st in the CCAA meet, completing the 6K course at Beau Pre Golf Course in McKinleyville in 23:50.9. Frazier ran 24:35.6 and Nieto ran 24:51.5. Chesnut, Ciraulo and Lopez all ran in the low 25s.
San Francisco State is the host for the event.