SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California men's and women's cross country teams will look to earn a spot at the NCAA Championship as they compete in the NCAA West Regional on Friday at Haggin Oaks Golf Course in Sacramento.
 
The women's 6,000m race will start at 11 a.m. while the gun will go off for the men's race at 12 p.m. Both races will be broadcast live on Flotrack. The top two teams in each of the NCAA's nine regions will qualify automatically for the NCAA Championship. There are an additional 13 at-large bids available for teams to earn a spot at the NCAA Championship. The top four runners who are not on teams that qualify will earn an individual spot at the NCAA Championship as long as they are in they finish in their region's top 25.
 
The men's team will face a tough competition as the west region will feature eight teams ranked in the NCAA's top 30 including four in the top-10. Cal will enter the competition ranked 11th in the region. They
 
The Bears closed hard down the stretch of the Pac-12 Championship to pass two teams and end up in seventh place in their last race. While the Pac-12 Championship was competed at the 8K distance, the switch to the longer 10K for the NCAA West Regional looks to favor the Bears. They finished a mere 51 points behind no. 24 UCLA at the Pac-12 Championship and will look to make up the distance over the longer distance.
 
"I think the last race was indicative that the men's team is ready for the 10k distance," head coach Shayla Houlihan said. "I think they all left the course feeling they could have run another 2K at the same pace they were running the final 3k of the Pac-12 Championship and still maintain the kick they had at the end. It's nice to walk away from a race feeling that way. I think they all feel confident in each other. The biggest thing has been to run together, don't detach because they communicate a lot during the race and do a good job of pulling each other along."
 
The men are led by redshirt senior Garrett Corcoran who placed 19th at the Pac-12 Championship. Corcoran crossed the line in 23:30.4, but has a lot left in the tank. The last time he raced at Haggin Oaks Golf Course was the USF Invitational in the first race of the year. Corcoran won the race and was named USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week for his efforts. The Bears also took home the team title.
 
The Bears will also be aided by the return of Takeshi Okada from injury. The redshirt junior will be racing in his first competition of the year and will be one of five members of the team in their fourth year of collegiate running.
 
"Takeshi is a great addition to the men's squad," Houlihan said. "He can come in and push everyone to their best abilities."
 
The women's squad will continue to showcase their young core in a championship setting on Saturday. The race will feature five top-20 teams and three top-10 teams according to the most recent USTFCCCA Regional poll.
 
"I'm hoping the experience at Pac-12s helps them understand that the top 5-6 teams in the region are some of the best in the nation," Houlihan said. "It's a really great experience, we can realistically go into the regional race and finish in a similar spot even though we are racing 38 teams instead of 12.
 
The team has dealt with multiple injuries to the top of their lineup, which has forced the young group to step up. Cal will send four sophomores and three freshman to the NCAA Regional Championship. Marea Zlatunich has burst onto the scene to form an exciting tandem with sophomore Annie Boos. Boos took 45th at the Pac-12 Championship with a time of 21:15.1 while Zlatunich finished four seconds later in 48th place.
 
"I expect our young group to be able to make some breakthroughs at the regional meet," Houlihan said. "Everyone who is racing has been ascending throughout the year. Chloe Hansel is coming back from injury and has turned the corner recently. The experience that Chole and Annie got at last year's NCAA Championship will help guide the women."