My goal is to be there on Tuesday. I'm thinking Haskill. (i'll try to bring enough orange for everyone.) Bill

Regionals are in Boise, Idaho this year. We leave on Friday. From what I understand, we don't have reservations at an econolodge this year. So, that's a good thing. Bill

Pocatello was known as the "border wars", with runners from Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado. It was mostly Utah based, but put in Pocatello because of it's central location. The meet in Boise is new, and is known as the Nike Team National regional meet. It was created to pick the teams for the Nike Team National meet, which is held in Portland in December. In the past teams were picked by a committee and it really wasn't a fair way to pick top teams. So, Nike decided to go with a regional format. The meet in Boise is the Northwest regional which includes the teams from Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Hawaii. So, no Utah, Colorado and Wyoming. Go to dyestat.com and it will have all the information. Click on the banner at the top, and go to the NTN NW regional. Right now, Patrick McGunagle and Drew Coco are planning on going. For the girls, It will be Lauren, Loni, Kelly, and Bailey. As with last year, we are still looking for a fifth runner to score as a team. The ladies will be running in "the small school division - less than 800 students". With five runners, they may have a chance to win the division, but with a question mark for a fifth runner, we'll be happy just to go. I'm looking at everyone having a fun time, just like last year. The course is way better than the one in Pocatello. Not so many hills, and low elevation. It should be sweet. Bill

To qualify for the NTN National race, a team would need to be one of the top two teams in the large school "varsity" race. The small school race winners would not be able to qualify. Then again, if a small school really felt it had an opportunity, they would be in the large school race regardless of school enrollment. The choice is made by the coach upon entry. I remember what last year's race was like, and even with our best team, we were perhaps the 4th best girls team in Montana. Washington had two teams in front of us at Mtn West, and they weren't even close to being the best in that state. Idaho has some good teams, and Oregon, well...... I don't even want to think about them and the amount of good teams they have. We aren't going to qualify for the "national" race, but we already have entry into the open race in Portland which is run right before the championship race. It is limited to 30 teams, and will let us run on the same course, and see the whole atmosphere as we watch the country's best XC teams race. I think that'll be good enough for us this season. The small school race is one that we most likely could have competed for the win if we had our whole team, but as it is, we're still looking for number five. (kind of like last year) if we could get any of our top nine or ten runners (besides the four that are commited) we could still do very well. As I said, that would be bonus. Bill

Four Girls and two boys went. The top twenty received medals. Girls Varsity (small school division) 3. Loni Hanson 19:58.3 (19:25 3 mile split) 7. Lauren Kuennen 20:21.6 (19:48 3 mile split) 18. Kelly Beiser 21:42.6 (21:11 3 mile split) 21. Jessica Sagen 22:11 (21:40 3 mile split) Boys Varsity (small school division) 7. Drew Coco 17:20.2 (16:50 3 mile split) 25. Patrick McGunagle 18:46.0 (18:10 3 mile split) It was a great meet. Lots of races, and good runners. A great course with nice running weather. The drive was a bit long, but I think it was a pretty cool event. The flat panel TV in the Hampton Inn was pretty sweet as well. Bill