National rankings say Broncos are best runners in Mountain West. They can prove it Friday.
Payday is always gratifying, and the Boise State cross country teams could be in for a big one on Friday.
Boise State is the only program in the nation to have both its men’s and women’s teams ranked in the top 5 of the inaugural NCAA Division I Cross Country Rating Index, which is a ranking system that uses some of the basic concepts of basketball’s Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), such as head-to-head performance and strength of schedule.
The BSU women came in at No. 2 in the initial rankings and the men No. 5 heading into Friday’s 2018 Mountain West Cross Country Championships at Balboa Park in San Diego, California. The women’s 6-kilometer race begins at 10 a.m. Mountain time, followed by the men’s 8-kilometer race at 10:45 a.m.
“It’s what we set out to do. I think it’s finally come to fruition that we’re where we wanted to be,” Boise State coach Corey Ihmels said. “Obviously we’ve got to keep going out and running to that level now. It’s a little bit of a different challenge than trying to attain to get to the top 10, but we’re excited.
“Both groups have done a tremendous job all season long, and I’m excited to see where we’re at this weekend.”
The Broncos will have gone nearly a month since their last race when they hit the course at Balboa Park. In their most recent outing, which was on Sept. 28, the women took second to top-ranked Colorado at the Nuttycombe Invitational in Madison, Wisconsin, and the men were fifth.
The break from competition was by design.
“We’ve had four weeks to train, and the kids have bought into it,” Ihmels said. “I think it’s nice for us to have this chance to just train and stay healthy. We’ll see if it works in the end, but I like where we’re at.”
The Bronco men will be vying for their second Mountain West title in three seasons after Yusuke Uchikoshi led them to the 2016 championship with his individual victory. The Bronco women will need to dethrone New Mexico for their first Mountain West title. The Lobos are the defending national champions and have claimed the past 10 conference championships. New Mexico is ranked one spot below the Broncos in the CCRI; BSU finished ahead of them at Nuttycomb.
“It will be nice to see how much fitter we are now compared to three or four weeks ago,” Boise State sophomore Emily Venters said. “We’re just going to go out and give it our best shot and hopefully come out with the win against the Lobos.”
Boise State redshirt junior Allie Ostrander, a two-time national champion in the steeplechase, and redshirt senior Addison DeHaven are among the individual favorites at the Mountain West meet. Ostrander won the race in 2015 and was fourth at last year’s national meet.
“She knows she’s as good as anybody out there, and I think for both groups, if we run well this week, it’s going to be tough to stop us the rest of the way, and that includes Alie,” Ihmels said. “If she has a good one this Friday, it’s going to be tough to beat her the rest of the way.”
Boise State lineups
Men: Elijah Armstrong, Riley Campbell, Addison Dehaven, Leif Everson, Miler Haller, Jeff Lautenslager, Ahmed Muhumed, Andrew Rafla, Yusuke Uchikoshi.
Women: Alexis Fuller, Claire Graves, Jordan Jacob, Kyra Lopez, Clare O’Brien, Allie Ostrander, Maxine Paholek, Kristie Schoffield, Emily Venters.
This story was originally published October 25, 2018 at 3:32 PM.