Nov. 10, 2004

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara University men's and women's cross country teams will wrap up their seasons this weekend at the NCAA West Regional Championships in Fresno, Calif. on Saturday morning.

Hosted by Fresno State, the meet will take place at Woodward Park. The women's 6k race will begin at 11 a.m., while the men's 10k will start at noon.

"On the women's side, we are looking to end the season on a positive note," said head coach Tom Service. "Some early season injuries have changed the goals and expectations of the team this year, but we can finish strong in Fresno."

Seniors Robin Bell and Katie Hansen will conclude their Bronco careers with four West Coast Conference Championship and four West Regional races under their belts. Hansen paced the Broncos at the conference meet this year, finishing 12th in a 5,000-meter time of 19:04 on October 30th.

Fellow senior Tara Rooney will also race at Woodward Park on Saturday, along with junior Kiley Strong, sophomore Blossom Marimpietri and freshmen Ann Thomas and Adriane Puetz,

"The men will have a challenging race on Saturday with their first 10K of the season," said Service. "It will be a big adjustment for the freshmen, who are coming off running 5k's in high school. However, this course also hosts the California high school championships, so a lot of our runners are familiar with Woodward Park."

Two of the Broncos top runners are freshmen as Michael Delaurenti and Andrew Blumel lead the way for SCU this weekend. Delaurenti has had a strong freshman campaign, posting the Broncos' best time at the conference meet with a 26:48 mark. Junior Chris Doerhoff also looks to make an impact on Saturday as he concludes his strongest season at SCU.

John Paul Thyken, John Hinman, Nick Arcelona and Omar Ahmad will make up the remainder of the Santa Clara line-up. Hinman, Thyken and Arcelona all competed at the 2003 West Regional, while Ahmad will be making his first West Regional appearance.