The California men's and women's cross country teams head to Colfax, Washington for the NCAA West Regional Championships that begin Friday at the Colfax Golf Course hosted by Washington State University. The race begins with the women's 6k race at 11 a.m. PT followed by the men's 10k at 12 p.m. PT. 

The top two teams from each region will secure automatic bids to the NCAA National Championships. Thirteen additional teams will be selected to fill out the final 31-team field. Individually, the first four finishers and two at-large individuals who do not fall under an automatic qualifier or an at-large team will advance. However, those top four finishers must finish in the top 25 within their region. This year's NCAA Championships will take place Nov. 23 at the Thomas Zimmer Cross Country Course in Madison, Wisconsin hosted by the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

The Golden Bears seek an NCAA berth following their first performance in the ACC Championships two weeks ago. The men's team took ninth place out of a 17-team competition, and the women's team took 15th place out of 18 teams. 

Out of the 20 individual Cal racers, 19 runners broke their personal records or seasonal bests at the ACC Championships. Carrick Denker was the top finisher for the fourth time this season, breaking his 8k personal record of 23:09.4, followed by Garrett MacQuiddy, who bested his seasonal record 23:30. 

Sophomore Addie Johnson was the Cal women's top finisher for the third time this season, breaking her personal record in the 6k with a time of 20:26.7. 

At last year's NCAA West Regionals, the Cal men took 12th place overall while the women took 14th place. This year the men will face five nationally ranked teams - No. 7 Stanford, No. 12 Washington, No. 15 Oregon, No. 16 Cal Baptist, and No. 25 Portland. The women will line up against four nationally ranked teams - No. 2 Oregon, No. 3 Washington, No. 12 Stanford, and No. 21 Gonzaga. 

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