SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Five West Coast Conference programs will have representation at the 2023 NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Nov. 18, at the Panorama Farms Cross Country Course in Charllotsville, Virginia. The championships will be broadcast on ESPNU starting at 6:30 a.m. PT.
 
The women's 6K race will start at 7 a.m. PT, and the men’s 10K race will begin at 8 a.m. PT. Fans can also follow along with live timing here.
 
Two WCC men’s teams will compete in the NCAA Championships, with Gonzaga earning an automatic qualifier after placing second in the NCAA West Regionals, on Nov. 10 and Portland earning an at-large selection.

On the women's side, Gonzaga's Rosina Machu qualified as an individual after placing fourth in the West Regional and Portland's Laura Pellicoro qualified as an at-large individual after finishing 7th in the West Regional meet. On the men's side, Santa Clara's Nicholas Russell qualified after finishing fifth, respectively, in the NCAA West Regional on Friday. It's the second year in a row Russell has secured an automatic bid.

Thirty-one teams were selected to participate in each championship. The top two, seven-person teams automatically qualified from each of the nine regions, for a total of 18 teams. Thirteen additional teams were selected at-large.

Gonzaga garnered its fourth-consecutive NCAA Championships appearance tying its best finish in the regionals (2nd), earning its second-straight automatic bid in the process. Wil Smith's sixth-place finish with a time of 19:14.1 was the best by a Zag at regionals. Gonzaga will be appearing in the NCAA Championships for the fourth time in program history.  

The Portland men earned an at-large selection after finishing 3rd in the West Region, led by Matt Strangio who ran a 10K time of 28:59.5, good for second place in the West Regional.

Santa Clara's Russell finished with a 10K time of 29:14.0 to place fifth in Friday's NCAA West Regional. The finish was the best by a Bronco in an NCAA regional in program history. The Bronco placed second in the WCC Cross Country Championships back on Oct. 28 to earn First Team All-WCC honors.  

Machu PRed with her time of 19:15.7, good for fourth place in the West Regional and a bid into the NCAA Championships. 

Portland women and Gonzaga men won the WCC Championships on Oct. 28 in Malibu. Individual championships went to Gonzaga's Machu for the women and Portland's Strangio for the men.