Meet Notes

The University of Hawai'i women's cross country team will participate in the Santa Clara Invitational Saturday, its final competition before the Western Athletic Conference Championship. The Rainbow Wahine are one of 25 teams participating in the largest cross country in the west coast this weekend.

The 5K women's races will take place at picturesque Baylands Park in Sunnyvale, Calif. 

UH has already participated in four meets this season, including last weekend's Hawai'i Pacific Invitational, which the team placed sixth.

Meet #5
What: Santa Clara Invitational 5K
Date: Saturday, Oct. 18
Time: 9:45 a.m. PT/6:45 a.m. HT
Where: Baylands Park, Sunnyvale, CA

Leader of the Pack
Sophomore Mariana Monasi has proven to be the Rainbow Wahine's top runner this season. The Oceanside, Calif., native recorded team-best times in UH's first four races and has three Top 12 performances (2nd at Chaminade Invitational, 12th at Big Wave Invitational, and 11th at HPU Invitational). Monasi transferred to UH last season after attending the University of San Diego as a freshman.

Welcome Aboard
The Rainbow Wahine welcome Althea Belgrave as the team's new assistant cross country coach. Belgrave comes to UH from Florida State, where she served as a graduate assistant. A native of St. John, Barbados, Belgrave competed at Idaho for four seasons. She is a three-time Barbadian national 800-meter and 1500-meter champion earned all-Big West Conference honors in 1997 in the 800-meter. Belgrave also held the national Barbadian record in the 1500-meter event.

Tough Schedule Ahead
UH will compete in five regular season meets as well as the Western Athletic Conference Championship and NCAA West Regionals. Of those seven meets, four will be held on the mainland - the 6K Stanford Invitational, 5K Santa Clara Invitational, 5K WAC Championships and 6K NCAA West Regionals.

Recapping the HPU Invitational
KANE'OHE, O'ahu – The Rainbow Wahine participated in the Hawai'i Pacific University Invitational Oct. 11 at Kualoa Ranch. The hilly 5K women's race was won by former UH runner Chantelle Wilder, who competed unattached. UH's top finisher for the fourth consecutive meet was sophomore Mariana Monasi, who crossed the finish line in 20:25 for 11th place. Junior Tava Tedesco placed 25th after clocking in at 21:09. Other UH participants scoring team points included freshman Liisa Cushing (21:30, 31st), sophomore Briana Goodnight (23:22, 46th), and freshman Gina Nourmohamadian (24:40, 50th). Also competing were sophomore Samantha Lotnick (24:48, 51st) and junior Kelli Murata (25:57, 53rd). As a team, the Rainbow Wahine placed sixth with 137 team points. Wilder, who competed for UH from 2004-07, finished the race in 19:04, just ahead of BYUH's Amanda Whitford (19:11).

Head Coach Carmyn James
Hawai'i head coach Carmyn James is in her ninth season at the helm of the women's cross country and track and field programs. Under her tutelage, two runners qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships, including Cheryl Smith's first place finish at the 2001 WAC Championships.