Both men̢۪s and women̢۪s cross country teams travel to Reno for season finale

The Fresno State men̢۪s and women̢۪s cross country teams will be spending Halloween in Reno, Nev. The teams will make the trip across the Sierras to participate in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Championships. The men̢۪s race is scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. on Saturday and the women̢۪s race will start 45 minutes later.

The WAC Championships may be a one-day event, but the entire season has been leading up to this moment. Men̢۪s runner Frank Sanders, who has competed in the WAC Championships before, said preparing for the championships takes the whole semester and earlier in the year, the races are harder.

Jennifer Hernandez, a previous WAC Championship runner and who will also compete this year, said. “[It’s] what we’ve been working for all season.â€Â

Both men̢۪s and women̢۪s cross country have been preparing for the WAC Championship all season with the previous competitions and daily practice.

“We hit it hard in the season and weeks before [the WAC Championships] we tamper down,â€Â Sanders, who will run in the WAC Championship, said.

Coach Sean McManus said that the team would practice everyday this week and take one day off. The practice would be easier than normal. The easy practice will be around twice the distance for the race. The distance in the WAC Championship for the men will be an 8K run, while the women will run a 5K.

“On a daily basis, the guys probably run ten miles, which is twice the distance, and the women run between six and eight miles,â€Â McManus said.

Just because every runner on the team practices does not mean they all get to compete in the championships. Each of the competing is allowed nine racers and five of them are scored for the team, according to McManus.

Choosing the nine runners from each gender to attend the championships was not entirely a coach̢۪s decision.

The nine runners that will compete for each team for the Bulldogs were decided by the best times at the Santa Clara Invitational, a last regular season event. According to McManus, members of both men̢۪s and women̢۪s squads, went to the last event and raced for a spot.

Last year, Fresno State̢۪s men̢۪s team finished third. Utah State has won the men̢۪s WAC Championships for the last four years. Sanders hopes that Fresno State can be the underdog.

“We’re looking at trying to give them an upset,â€Â Sanders said.

McManus wants to see the same against Utah State. “We’re trying to mount more of a challenge for them this week,â€Â he said.

On the women̢۪s side, Utah State won last year, as well. The Bulldogs finished seventh. To get Fresno State to the top, the team needs to focus on the training.

“Everyone needs to do what we’ve been training to do,â€Â Hernandez said. “Even if one person falls back, someone has to come and push back.â€Â

On Monday the pre-championship coaches̢۪ poll was released, ranking all the teams in the WAC. On the men̢۪s side Utah State was voted No. 1 and Fresno State No. 3. The women̢۪s cross country voting put New Mexico State at the top and had Fresno State coming in fifth place out of nine teams.