TEMPE – The Sun Devils head to the Californian capital this Friday for the penultimate meet of the cross country season, seeking bids to the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
The return trip to Madison, Wisconsin, for a shot at the D1 crowns goes through the deepest region in the nation as the 14/14 Sun Devils line up against a familiar and talented field.
"The way coach Rasmussen and I determined our schedule this year, we were really able to simulate an environment like this regional meet four weeks ago when we ran in Wisconsin," men's head coach Cory Leslie said. "The moment is a little bigger and the expectation to perform is greater, but for them, they just have to do what they've done all year and get better every week."
For John Reniewicki and Garrett O'Toole, the 10K race in Sacramento is a chance to extend their senior seasons and send the Sun Devils to the Championships for the first time in nearly a decade.
"It's the same for all of the seniors across the country," Leslie said. "You have to show up Friday to extend that season. There's still a lot of life in their legs, but it's not just up to them. It's going to take five to seven guys to put us where we want to be."
The West is one of the larger regions on the women's side with 38 squads expected to lineup for the 6K Friday.
ASU's sole returning all-region performer is Samantha Ortega who took 22nd at the race back in 2015.
"At the end of the day, we've had one person on the team that's been all-region and it would be exciting to come away with another one of those this weekend, but overall as a program and as a team, if we can score less than 300 points and put ourselves in a position to be in the top-10, I think that's a realistic and reasonable goal to obtain," women's head coach Jeremy Rasmussen said.
Only the top-two teams at the regional are guaranteed a spot in the Championships, 18 of the possible 39 women's bids and 21 of the 39 men's bids in the last three seasons have gone to the West because of its unmatched depth.
"The depth of our region is absolutely the best in the nation, Rasmussen said. "Right now, we're ranked 14th in the region, and we're looking to be better than that in the meet. We're looking to be top-10 by the end of this."
The 2018 NCAA West Regional Championships will be live streamed on FloTrack and results will be available on Record Timing. Results and a full recap of Arizona State's day in SacTown will be available on thesundevils.com following the competition of the races.
Rankings Update
Heading into the NCAA West Regional Championships, both Arizona State squads sit in 14th in the deepest region in the NCAA.
While neither team has broken into the top-25 this season nationally, the West itself is still the most represented region in the cumulative poll with eight men's teams and five women's teams ranked.
The region is the most important poll this week as the Devils take on the region for a shot at the national championships.
With the West's depth and the number of at-large bids available, there are plenty of opportunity to be pushed into the championships on either side.
West Regional Championships: A Brief History
It's the best region in the country and it has the numbers to back it up.
Since 2013, 11 women's teams and 13 men's teams from the west have finished in the top-10 at the NCAA Championships with the Oregon women even bringing home a national title in 2016.
Those same Ducks have claimed two regional titles in the past five seasons with San Francisco taking the crown last season, Stanford nabbing the title in 2016 and Arizona coming out on top in 2013.
On the men's side the historically Pac-12 dominated region saw a WCC team take the trophy last year in the Pilots of Portland. Prior to Portland's win, Stanford, Washington and Oregon handed of wins from 2014-2016 with Stanford winning the title again in 2013.
As for Arizona State, the women's best finish in the past five years came five years ago as Shelby Houlihan led the Devils to a sixth-place finish, just shy of an NCAA Championship bid.
Houlihan would go on to win the region in 2014, taking the Pac-12/West Region double. She would finish ninth as an individual in the NCAA Championship race.
The women have finished in the top-10 in the region in each of the past five seasons.
The men took fifth back in 2013 and sixth in 2014 before dropping to 15th and 13th the following seasons.
ASU didn't enter a team last season and John Reniewicki was the only entrant.
Should ASU advance a team to the NCAA Championships this weekend, it would be the first men's appearance since 2009 and the first women's appearance since 2011.
A Look Back: 2017 West Regional Championships
Sun Devil senior Chelsey Albertson ran her way into contention for an NCAA Championship berth last year at the NCAA West Regional Championships in Seattle with a top-25 performance.
The all-conference honoree earlier in that season looked to be the Sun Devils' leader once again through 2K as she was in the top-25 and cruising with the leaders seeking an individual qualification spot.
She came up just short again in arguably the deepest region in the NCAA as her 21st place finish wasn't enough to guarantee her a ticket to Louisville and her first NCAA Championship appearance. Albertson was the fifth-best finishing individual, one place shy of an NCAA berth.
The women went on to take ninth and John Reniewicki was the only Sun Devil man entered in the region's 10K championship.
Coach Cory Leslie on the Men's 10K Race
On the depth of the region
"It's a lot like our conference meet. There's a lot of the same players, but you take out a couple of Pac-12 teams and replace them teams like Portland and Boise State, but the top end is mostly teams we've competed against this season. We have the same mentality as we had last time at the conference championships. For us, we know kind of that 200-250 point range is where we need to be to give ourselves a chance. We know what our objectives are and we just want to do what we have to do to accomplish that."
On the seniors
"For John and Garrett, knowing that this is their last cross country season and that this could be their last race, it's the same for all of the seniors across the country. You have to show up on Friday to extend your season. For these guys, I know they still feel like there's a lot of life left in their legs. Garrett was a little late to get his cross country season started and John has had seasons and years of injuries, but now feels like he's up and running. They've got 10Ks left in them, but we know it's going to take five to seven guys to put us in a position to get that last one in."
Coach Jeremy Rasmussen on the Women's 6K Race
On improvements for the regional
Our fifth didn't have the best of races at the conference meet. I think if our fifth is where our three and four are at, we're under the 30-second gap and that's what we're going to have to be at the regional meet to have a shot. There're just more bodies. The top end is still as good as it is at the Pac-12 meet, but as you start getting into the 30's, 40's, 50's and 60's, bodies start crossing the link quick because the depth of it is there. That's going to be a big key for us this weekend. Putting ourselves in position to immerse ourselves into that races and win that race.
On the team's experience at big meets
They have some experience, but they haven't had experience at the right level. It's another step up. Going to a pre-national meet where you've got 30-plus teams on the line, those 30 teams are all really good, quality teams. They really set you up for a meet like this. We have 30-plus teams in the region that are going to be on the line. We put ourselves in a position to understand that there's going to be a lot of bodies out there and the quality in our region is pretty deep. Having that experience at pre-nats will help understanding how to manage the race well with a lot of people around you, but then also the quality of our conference meet. There's no wiggle room. There's no room to hide. There's no room for mistakes. Basically, you combine those two opportunities into one to finish.
The return trip to Madison, Wisconsin, for a shot at the D1 crowns goes through the deepest region in the nation as the 14/14 Sun Devils line up against a familiar and talented field.
"The way coach Rasmussen and I determined our schedule this year, we were really able to simulate an environment like this regional meet four weeks ago when we ran in Wisconsin," men's head coach Cory Leslie said. "The moment is a little bigger and the expectation to perform is greater, but for them, they just have to do what they've done all year and get better every week."
For John Reniewicki and Garrett O'Toole, the 10K race in Sacramento is a chance to extend their senior seasons and send the Sun Devils to the Championships for the first time in nearly a decade.
"It's the same for all of the seniors across the country," Leslie said. "You have to show up Friday to extend that season. There's still a lot of life in their legs, but it's not just up to them. It's going to take five to seven guys to put us where we want to be."
The West is one of the larger regions on the women's side with 38 squads expected to lineup for the 6K Friday.
ASU's sole returning all-region performer is Samantha Ortega who took 22nd at the race back in 2015.
"At the end of the day, we've had one person on the team that's been all-region and it would be exciting to come away with another one of those this weekend, but overall as a program and as a team, if we can score less than 300 points and put ourselves in a position to be in the top-10, I think that's a realistic and reasonable goal to obtain," women's head coach Jeremy Rasmussen said.
Only the top-two teams at the regional are guaranteed a spot in the Championships, 18 of the possible 39 women's bids and 21 of the 39 men's bids in the last three seasons have gone to the West because of its unmatched depth.
"The depth of our region is absolutely the best in the nation, Rasmussen said. "Right now, we're ranked 14th in the region, and we're looking to be better than that in the meet. We're looking to be top-10 by the end of this."
The 2018 NCAA West Regional Championships will be live streamed on FloTrack and results will be available on Record Timing. Results and a full recap of Arizona State's day in SacTown will be available on thesundevils.com following the competition of the races.
Rankings Update
Heading into the NCAA West Regional Championships, both Arizona State squads sit in 14th in the deepest region in the NCAA.
While neither team has broken into the top-25 this season nationally, the West itself is still the most represented region in the cumulative poll with eight men's teams and five women's teams ranked.
The region is the most important poll this week as the Devils take on the region for a shot at the national championships.
With the West's depth and the number of at-large bids available, there are plenty of opportunity to be pushed into the championships on either side.
West Regional Championships: A Brief History
It's the best region in the country and it has the numbers to back it up.
Since 2013, 11 women's teams and 13 men's teams from the west have finished in the top-10 at the NCAA Championships with the Oregon women even bringing home a national title in 2016.
Those same Ducks have claimed two regional titles in the past five seasons with San Francisco taking the crown last season, Stanford nabbing the title in 2016 and Arizona coming out on top in 2013.
On the men's side the historically Pac-12 dominated region saw a WCC team take the trophy last year in the Pilots of Portland. Prior to Portland's win, Stanford, Washington and Oregon handed of wins from 2014-2016 with Stanford winning the title again in 2013.
As for Arizona State, the women's best finish in the past five years came five years ago as Shelby Houlihan led the Devils to a sixth-place finish, just shy of an NCAA Championship bid.
Houlihan would go on to win the region in 2014, taking the Pac-12/West Region double. She would finish ninth as an individual in the NCAA Championship race.
The women have finished in the top-10 in the region in each of the past five seasons.
The men took fifth back in 2013 and sixth in 2014 before dropping to 15th and 13th the following seasons.
ASU didn't enter a team last season and John Reniewicki was the only entrant.
Should ASU advance a team to the NCAA Championships this weekend, it would be the first men's appearance since 2009 and the first women's appearance since 2011.
A Look Back: 2017 West Regional Championships
Sun Devil senior Chelsey Albertson ran her way into contention for an NCAA Championship berth last year at the NCAA West Regional Championships in Seattle with a top-25 performance.
The all-conference honoree earlier in that season looked to be the Sun Devils' leader once again through 2K as she was in the top-25 and cruising with the leaders seeking an individual qualification spot.
She came up just short again in arguably the deepest region in the NCAA as her 21st place finish wasn't enough to guarantee her a ticket to Louisville and her first NCAA Championship appearance. Albertson was the fifth-best finishing individual, one place shy of an NCAA berth.
The women went on to take ninth and John Reniewicki was the only Sun Devil man entered in the region's 10K championship.
Coach Cory Leslie on the Men's 10K Race
On the depth of the region
"It's a lot like our conference meet. There's a lot of the same players, but you take out a couple of Pac-12 teams and replace them teams like Portland and Boise State, but the top end is mostly teams we've competed against this season. We have the same mentality as we had last time at the conference championships. For us, we know kind of that 200-250 point range is where we need to be to give ourselves a chance. We know what our objectives are and we just want to do what we have to do to accomplish that."
On the seniors
"For John and Garrett, knowing that this is their last cross country season and that this could be their last race, it's the same for all of the seniors across the country. You have to show up on Friday to extend your season. For these guys, I know they still feel like there's a lot of life left in their legs. Garrett was a little late to get his cross country season started and John has had seasons and years of injuries, but now feels like he's up and running. They've got 10Ks left in them, but we know it's going to take five to seven guys to put us in a position to get that last one in."
Coach Jeremy Rasmussen on the Women's 6K Race
On improvements for the regional
Our fifth didn't have the best of races at the conference meet. I think if our fifth is where our three and four are at, we're under the 30-second gap and that's what we're going to have to be at the regional meet to have a shot. There're just more bodies. The top end is still as good as it is at the Pac-12 meet, but as you start getting into the 30's, 40's, 50's and 60's, bodies start crossing the link quick because the depth of it is there. That's going to be a big key for us this weekend. Putting ourselves in position to immerse ourselves into that races and win that race.
On the team's experience at big meets
They have some experience, but they haven't had experience at the right level. It's another step up. Going to a pre-national meet where you've got 30-plus teams on the line, those 30 teams are all really good, quality teams. They really set you up for a meet like this. We have 30-plus teams in the region that are going to be on the line. We put ourselves in a position to understand that there's going to be a lot of bodies out there and the quality in our region is pretty deep. Having that experience at pre-nats will help understanding how to manage the race well with a lot of people around you, but then also the quality of our conference meet. There's no wiggle room. There's no room to hide. There's no room for mistakes. Basically, you combine those two opportunities into one to finish.