Meet Notes

The University of Hawai'i women's cross country team is seeded eighth for this Saturday's Western Athletic Conference Championships. The 5K women's race begins at 10:00 a.m. MT (6:00 a.m. HT) at the New Mexico State Golf Course in Las Cruces, N.M.

Utah State and Nevada were picked to finish 1-2 with defending champion Idaho in third. The Rainbow Wahine finished eighth at last year's WAC Championship, held in Logan, Utah.

Hawai'i has had an extra week to prepare for this year's meet, having not competed since the Santa Clara Invitational on Oct. 18.

Meet #6
What: WAC Championships 5K
Date: Saturday, Nov. 1
Time: 10:00 a.m. MT/6:00 a.m. HT
Where: NMSU Golf Course, Las Cruces, NM

UH Entries
Competing for UH at the WAC Championships are Liisa Cushing, Shannon Dresser,  Briana Goodnight, Samantha Lotnick, Mariana Monasi, Tava Tedesco, and Annett Wichmann.

UH at the WAC Championships
The Rainbow Wahine placed eighth at the WAC Championships for the past three years. UH's highest finish at the meet was fourth, twice, in 2000 and 2001. In 2001, Cheryl Smith and Casey McGuire-Turcotte placed 1-2 in the meet, which was held at the Kane'ohe Klipper Golf Course.

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 five 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.

Recapping the Santa Clara Invitational
SUNNYVALE, Calif. – The Rainbow Wahine placed 15th at the Santa Clara Invitational, Saturday, at Baylands Park. The largest collegiate meet on the West Coast this weekend featured both open and invitational divisions for men and women. The Rainbow Wahine placed 15th in the 5K invitational race, which was won by Long Beach State. The Rainbow Wahine totaled 397 points.UH was led once again by sophomore Mariana Monasi, who placed 60th overall with a time of 18:45. Monasi has recorded the team's top time in all five races this season. Right behind Monasi was freshman Liisa Cushing, who crossed the finish line in 18:57 for 67th place.Other Rainbow Wahine scoring team points were junior Tava Tedesco (19:21/88th), sophomore Briana Goodnight (20:15/115th), and junior Shannon Dresser (20:44/127th). Also competing for UH were freshman Gina Nourmohamadian (21:39/136th) and freshman Kirsten Fujitani (21:45/137th).

Coaching Staff
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. Assistant coach Althea Belgrave is in her first year with the program after coming 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.