The Big West Conference was well represented in the final two meets of the year as runners from all nine schools competed in the West Regional Meet, while three individuals earned the chance to take part in the NCAA Championships.
The West Region meet saw two men's teams finish in the top 10 (Cal Poly, UC Santa Barbara), while two more in the women's competition also finished among the first 10 (UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara).
Individually, the Big West picked up six All-Region honorees on the men's side and two more after the women's race. UC Santa Barbara's Scott Smith led the league’s All-Region selections after leading all Big West finishers with a fourth place showing, while Cal Poly's Joe Gatel, UC Davis' Jonathan Peterson, UCSB's Julian deRubira, UC Riverside's Chad Hall and Cal Poly's Evan Anderson also joined Smith on the list. The women's All-Region team had Crystal Reed of UC Santa Barbara following her 12th place finish, as well as 2009 Big West Women's Athlete of the Year Sarah Sumpter of UC Davis.
Following the regional meet, UC Santa Barbara's Scott Smith and Crystal Reed and Cal Poly's Joe Gatel were chosen to participate in the NCAA National Championships. Smith had the best finish among the three as he finished the men's race in 50th, while Gatel finished up the 10K jaunt in 110th. Reed wrapped up her season by finishing 168th in the women's 6K race.
Two weeks prior to the West Region meet, the 2009 edition of the Big West Cross Country Championships added more history to the record books as the Cal Poly Men and UC Santa Barbara women claimed the crowns. The races were held at Riverside Ops Course in Riverside, Calif., and hosted by UC Riverside.
The Mustang men, who tallied 28 points, won the title for the seventh consecutive season and added to their record title count with #10 all-time. UC Santa Barbara finished in second with 67 points, while UC Davis rounded out the top 10 with 81 tallies. Host UCR was fourth with 86 points, Long Beach State ended up in fifth with 117 points, while UC Irvine was sixth with 143 points. Cal State Fullerton (182) and Cal State Northridge (249) wrapped up the scoring in the men’s 8K race.
UCSB's title returns the Gauchos to the top of the Big West for the first time since 2007. The club amassed 50 points for the championship, besting second place UC Davis by 11 points. Cal Poly was third with 74 tallies, while Long Beach State rounded out the top four with 100 points. Fifth place went to host UC Riverside with 112 points, sixth belonged to Cal State Fulleron with 153 points, while Cal State Northridge was seventh with 189 points. UC Irvine (204) and Pacific (288) completed the scoring on the women’s end.
Individually, Cal Poly's Joe Gatel became the fourth consecutive Mustang to win the men's individual title, as well as the fourth Cal Poly runner to claim Athlete of the Year accolades. More history was made on the women's side as UC Davis' Sarah Sumpter became only the second freshman to win both the individual women's title and Women's Athlete of the Year. Melinda Campbell of former league member Boise State achieved the feat back in 1997.