COLFAX, Wash. -- The Stanford men’s and women’s cross-country teams compete at the NCAA West Regionals on Friday at Colfax Golf Club.
The women’s 6-kilometer (3.73-mile) race begins at 11 a.m., followed by the men’s 10K (6.21-mile) at noon.
The West Regional is among nine regional championships Friday. The top two teams per gender at each meet automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships, on November 23 in Verona, Wisconsin.
After those 18 teams are determined, the at-large process picks another 13 teams per gender, based on regional finishes and head-to-head, for a total of 31 teams in each race. The top four finishers not on qualifying teams advance as individuals.
The NCAA selection show is Saturday at 2 p.m. PT on ncaa.com.
Both Stanford teams have reached the NCAA Championships for the past 30 seasons. The women are on a streak of 31 and the men 30.
The West Region includes 40 schools, with eight conferences represented: the Atlantic Coast, Big Sky, Big 12, Big West, Mountain West, Pac-12, West Coast, and Western Athletic.
The top five in the West Region men’s rankings: 1, Stanford; 2, Washington; 3, Oregon; 4, Cal Baptist; 5, Portland. Nationally, Stanford is ranked No. 7.
The top five in the West Region women’s rankings: 1, Oregon; 2, Washington; 3, Stanford; 4, Gonzaga; 5, Portland. Nationally, Stanford is ranked No. 12.
The men’s race includes four conference champions: Cal Baptist in the WAC, Portland in the WCC, and Cal Poly in the Big West. The women’s race incudes three conference champions: Oregon in the Big Ten, Gonzaga in the WCC, and Cal Poly in the Big West.
The Stanford women have won the past four regional championships -- in 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023 (there was no race in 2020) -- and the men have won the past three.
After winning seven individual titles in the decade of the 2000s, the Stanford men have had only one since then, Maksim Korolev in 2014. Stanford women have won two individual titles – Julia Heymach in 2021 and Ella Donaghu in 2019 – in the past four regionals.
At their first ACC Championships, in Cary, North Carolina, on October 27, the Stanford men and women each placed second at Wakemed Soccer Park.
In a women’s competition in which three teams finished within six points of each other, Stanford scored 121 points to Notre Dame’s 115, with North Carolina placing third in a tiebreaker with 121. In the men’s race, Stanford moved up the field throughout the race on the way to scoring 69 points to Wake Forest’s 60.
Cole Sprout was fourth in the ACC men’s race, with Thomas Boyden ninth, and Lex Young 11th to lead Stanford. In the women’s race, Zofia Dudek was 10th and Sophia Kennedy 11th to lead the Card.
Besides Stanford, other schools competing are: Arizona, Arizona State, Boise State, Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton, California, CBU, CSUN, Eastern Washington, Fresno State, Gonzaga, Hawaii, Idaho, Long Beach State, Loyola Marymount, Oregon, Oregon State, Pacific, Pepperdine, Portland, Portland State, Sacramento State, San Diego, San Diego State, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Seattle U, St. Mary's, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, UCLA, UNLV, USC, Utah Tech, Washington, and Washington State.