Bear Necessities

The California women's cross country team, along with Trent Brendel and Garrett Corcoran vie for national championships this weekend as they take on the nation's best in the NCAA Cross Country Championship meet. The action will begin with the women's 6000m at 10:45 a.m. EST, followed by the men's 10,000m at 11:45 a.m. EST on Saturday at the E.P Tom Sawyer Golf Course in Louisville, Kentucky.

The women tied for their fourth-best West Regional Championship finish last weekend, finishing fifth overall and beating No. 16 ranked Washington. The Bears were led by senior Bethan Knights and Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Brie Oakley, who placed 10th and 11th respectively in the meet. Trent Brendel (13th) and Garrett Corcoran (15th) secured individual national championship berths with their finishes in this past weekend's meet. The Bears are sending nine runners to the national championship, the most in program history. 

The meet will be broadcast on the subscription site, FloTrack.com. Live stats will be available via Record Timing during and after each event. A summary of the meet will be available after on CalBears.com. Follow @CalTFXC on Instagram and on Twitter for a behind-the-scenes look at meet day and more. 

Head Coach Shalya HoulIhan's Take

"The women are ready to get back out there and compete in Louisville. They will continue to build on what they've done thus far week-to-week. Our goal from the beginning of the season was to finish each race higher than our ranking. It feels good to be able to go to the national meet and have the same reasonable expectation that they've continually capitalized on. Trent and Garrett have a lot of knowledge leading into this race, having ran this course two years ago at NCAA's. I look for them to continue on the same trajectory they've had all year."