Cross Country | 11/2/2016 11:24:00 AM

ELLENSBURG, Wash.- The Central Washington University cross country team is gearing up for the NCAA Division II West Regional Championships on Saturday, Nov. 5, in Billings, Mont. The men's race is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. MST, followed by the women's race at 11:15. The event will take place at Amend Park. 
 
"Things are looking pretty good as we get ready for Regionals," CWU head coach Kevin Adkisson said. "We chose to take last weekend off from racing so that we could get some good training in, which was beneficial. We are rested now and looking good. We are going to try and see if we can achieve some big things this Saturday."
 
The Wildcats will be aiming to qualify for the NCAA Championships later this month. Only a predetermined number of teams from each of the eight regions for each gender will qualify from the Regional Championships on November 5-6 into the NCAA Championships on November 19 in Saint Leo, Florida. The number of qualifiers per region varies based on 2015 NCAA Championships results.
 
Last year at the NCAA West Region Championships, the Wildcat women just missed qualifying for the NCAA Championships, capturing sixth overall. Alexa Shindruk was the third Wildcat and 33rd runner overall to cross the finish line as a true freshman. Expect to see Shindruk up front again this weekend as she hopes to improve upon her performance from last year. Seniors Elena Gomez and Stephanie Rexus will help bolster CWU's lineup.
 
"We are a longshot to qualify for the NCAA Championships on the women's side, but anything can happen when racing at Regionals," Adkisson said. "Alexa (Shindruk) is going to have an opportunity to race pretty close to the way she did at the Western Invitational. She will more than likely be the one leading the pack. With Elena (Gomez), the question is how close to one hundred percent we can get her. She is still having some ankle issues, but I think we are getting her closer to being back to her old self. Hopefully, she will be able to give us that strong presence up front."
 
The men's team is coming off a seventh-place performance at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championship. Leading the men's team was senior Kaleb Javier. Javier recorded a time of 26:19.20 to capture 26th overall. Junior Josh Boston will accompany Javier at the front of the pack, recently earning a 37th place finish at the GNAC Championships.
 
Check back to WildcatSports.com for a full meet recap following Saturday's action.
 
-CWU-