PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Portland Pilots men's and women's cross country teams will compete this Friday, at the NCAA West Regionals at the Haggin Oaks Golf Course in Sacramento, Calif. The women will compete first in the 6K at 11 a.m. followed by the men's 10K at 12 p.m. The top two teams from each region will receive automatic bids to the NCAA Championships, 13-bid will remain at large.
 
The No. 10 Portland women will run against several nationally ranked teams, including No. 4 Washington and No. 7 Stanford. The Pilots are led by West Coast Conference Individual Champion Lauren LaRocco, who helped the Pilots to their first team title since 2008 a few weeks ago. The team looks to make their first ever NCAA Championship appearance.
 
"The team is really excited for this Friday's race," said WCC Coach of the Year Ian Solof. "I would say people are feeling better than they were going into the WCC meet. We really just need to finish in the top five or six and we should move on to the nationals, but it is an incredibly competitive race and we aren't taking anything lightly. The team is focused on running tough, like they have in every race so far."
 
The men, who are ranked 12th nationally, will also face several top teams, including No. 4 Stanford, No. 8 UCLA, and No. 10 Oregon. The Pilots are coming off of a second-place finish the WCC's, where five Pilots finished in the top 15, led by redshirt-sophomore Nick Hauger. The men look to make their 14^th NCAA Championship appearance.
 
"Our team is built for November 10k's and we are ready to go!  It has been a great season so far but this is what it is all about," said head coach Rob Conner. "We couldn't be more excited!"
 
Ranked Women's Team (National Rank, Regional Rank)
Washington (#4, #1)
Stanford (#7, #2)
Portland (#10, #3)
Oregon (#11, #4)
San Francisco (#16, #5)
California (#27, #6)
UCLA (NR, #7)
Cal Poly (NR, #8)
Boise State (NR, #9)
Arizona (NR, #10)
Oregon State (NR, #11)
Gonzaga (NR, #12)
UC Davis (NR, #13)
Arizona State (NR, #14)
Idaho (NR, #15)
 
Ranked Men's Teams (National Rank, Regional Rank)
Stanford (#4, #1)
UCLA (#8, #2)
Oregon (#10, #3)
Portland (#12, #4)
Washington State (#17, #5)
Boise State (#20, #6)
California (NR, #7)
Washington (NR, #8)
San Francisco (NR, #9)
Cal Poly (NR, #10)
Gonzaga (NR, #11)
UC Santa Barbra (NR, #12)
Arizona State (NR, #13)
San Jose State (NR, #14)
Saint Mary's (NR, #15)