COMING UP: at NAIA Cross Country National Championships (North Farms Cross Country Course, Elsah, Mo.), Women's 5,000-meters, 10:30 a.m. (CST), Men's 8,000-meters, 11:30 a.m. (CST).
LAST WEEK: at Cascade Conference Championships, presented by U.S. Bank – Men (2nd of 9 Teams); Women (2nd of 9 Teams)
COYOTES EQUAL BEST FINISH EVER AT CCC CHAMPIONSHIPS: Paced by three all-conference performances, the College of Idaho equaled their best finish in program history, placing second overall at the 2016 Cascade Conference Championships, presented by U.S. Bank, in Salem, Ore. In wet and sloppy conditions on the Corban University campus, the Yotes had all five of their scoring runners in the Top-25, recording 64 place points – behind team champion, Southern Oregon (35) and well ahead of rivals Oregon Tech (84), Eastern Oregon (96) and Northwest Christian (102).
Billy Godfrey led the Coyote contingent with an eighth-place finish (27:02), part of a tight C of I pack that included tenth-place
Andrew Sutton (27:05) and 11th-place
Dylan Walker (27:07) – all earning All-CCC honors.
Alex Martin took 14th-place (27:09) and
Quinn Radbourne placed 21st (27:31) to round out the C of I scorers.
YOTES EARN AT-LARGE BERTH TO NATIONALS: By virtue of their finish at the CCC Championships, the Yotes earned one of 11 at-large berths to the NAIA National Championships, to be held this Saturday in Elsah, Mo. C of I advances to the championships for the 11th time since the program was reinstated in 2004 and the ninth-straight year. The Coyotes will be joined by five other schools from the Northwest – Southern Oregon, Oregon Tech, Eastern Oregon, Lewis-Clark State and British Columbia.
COYOTES HISTORY AT NATIONALS: C of I looks to build off their best finish at Nationals a year ago, taking seventh overall. It was the Yotes second Top-10 finish, placing tenth overall in the 2009 championships.
MEN'S FINAL NATIONAL RATING: The Yotes finished the regular-season ranked No. 6 in the final NAIA Top-25 poll, released on Nov. 5 – the highest regular-season C of I received 467 voter points – remaining in the Top-10 for the sixth-straight polling period. British Columbia holds the No. 1 spot, followed by St. Francis (Ill.), Southern Oregon, Marian (Ind.), The Master's (Calif.) and the Yotes; with Oregon Tech at No. 18 and Eastern Oregon at No. 21.
LADY YOTES TAKE SECOND AT CONFERENCE MEET: An all-conference performance by freshman
Molly Vitale-Sullivan helped C of I to a second-place finish at the 2016 Cascade Conference Women's Cross Country Championships at Corban University. Defending conference and national champions, Northwest Christian, had five runners in the Top-10 to win the team crown with 28 place-points, followed by the Lady Yotes (78), Oregon Tech (80) and Southern Oregon (96). Vitale-Sullivan was eighth overall, racing in the top chase pack, clocking a time of 18:55 – less than six seconds out of a podium finish. Teammate
Lila Klopfenstein placed 14th (19:12
); Emily Hawgood placed 17th (19:40),
Ashtyn Ellis finished 18th (19:40) and
Kaitlyn Schut took 21st (19:50).
C OF I EARNS EIGHTH-STRAIGHT TRIP TO NAIA CHAMPIONSHIPS: With their outstanding regular-season, the Lady Yotes earned the first of 13 at-large bids to the NAIA Championships, the ninth-straight year the squad will compete at Nationals. C of I is one of four CCC teams to earn a spot in the 36 team field – with Northwest Christian, Oregon Tech and Southern Oregon also heading to Missouri.
LADY YOTES HISTORY AT NATIONALS: C of I heads to Nationals for the ninth-straight year, as the Lady Yotes are coming off an eighth-place finish at the 2015 championships. The squad posted their best finishes ever during the 2012 and 2013 seasons, as C of I earned national runner-up honors in each of the races.
WOMEN'S FINAL NATIONAL RATING: The Lady Yotes remained at No. 7 in the final NAIA Top-25 national poll, released Nov. 5. C of I received 419 voter points – behind Northwest Christian, Biola (Calif.), British Columbia, Oklahoma City, Aquinas (Mich.) and The Master's (Calif.) – with both Oregon Tech (No. 10) and Southern Oregon (No. 12) in the Top-25.
2016 TOP TIMES: Race by Race
times and results for the C of I cross country team can be found online.
ABOUT THE COACH: Austin Basterrechea is in his sixth season with the Coyote program and his first as head coach of the cross country and track teams. He joined the coaching staff in 2015 as the Yotes top assistant, helping the men's and women's cross country teams to Top-10 finishes at the NAIA Championships, with the women's track team winning their fourth-straight Cascade Conference title. He assumed head coaching honors in August of 2016. The native of Gooding is a 2014 graduate of the College, where he was a four-time NAIA All-American and four-time CCC champion; earned All-America honors indoors in the heptathlon in 2012 and 2014, while earning All-America honors outdoors in the decathlon in 2013 and 2014; was a two-time CCC decathlon champ, while also claiming titles in the long jump and 110-meter hurdles; a three-time CCC All-Academic Team selection, a two time NAIA Scholar-Athlete, and two-time first-team Capital One Academic All-American; competed in the 2011 USTAF Junior Nationals.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: For more on the C of I cross country teams, visit the homepage of the
Yotes and
Lady Yotes.
