Meet Notes

University of Hawai'i senior Jessica Forrester is the lone Rainbow Wahine who will compete in the NCAA West Regional Cross Country Championships, Saturday, at the Springfield Country Club in Springfield, Ore.

 

The last time UH did not send a full squad to Regionals was in 2005, while the last time the Rainbow Wahine only sent individuals the meet was in 1995.

 

Forrester, UH's most consistent runner all season, was the team's top finisher in three meets, including the Western Athletic Conference Championships two weeks ago in Reno, Nev. The senior placed 24th overall to lead UH to a seventh place team finish.

 

The Regionals feature a 6K course and will include 28 teams in the West Region, including defending champion Washington and host Oregon, who placed runner-up in each of the past two years. The top two teams and top four individuals not on a qualifying team from each of nine regionals around the country automatically advance to the NCAA Championships Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Ind.

 

What: NCAA West Regional

Date: Saturday, Nov. 14

Time: 10:45 a.m. PT

Where: Springfield Country Club; Springfield, Ore.

Host: Oregon

 

The Rainbow Wahine have competed as a team in the NCAA West Regionals 20 times since 1981. UH fielded only individuals two other times. UH's best team finish was ninth in 2002, held at the Stanford Golf Course. That same season, Victoria Chang placed 12th individually. UH's top individual performance at the NCAA West Regional was Cheryl Smith's eighth place finish in 2001.

 

Senior Jessica Forrester, a transfer from the University of Tampa, has made her mark in her only season as a Rainbow Wahine. The Division II All-American was the team's top finisher in UH's first two meets after placing second overall in the season-opening HPU Invitational and winning the Big Wave Invitational. She also was UH's top finisher at the WAC Championships two weeks ago.