WSU’s Solomon Kipchoge, Rosemany Longisa win their respective cross-country races at NCAA West Regional

Washington State’s Solomon Kipchoge and Rosemary Longisa continued their winning – and record-setting – ways at the NCAA West Regional Cross-Country Championships in Sacramento on Friday.

But the Cougars will have to wait to learn if at-large team invitations to nationals on Nov. 22 in Columbia, Missouri, are coming their way after finishing just outside the top two automatic qualifying spots.

Kipchoge, a sophomore transfer from Texas Tech, broke free of teammate and defending champ Evans Kurui about two-thirds of the way through the 10,000-meter race at Haggin Oaks Golf Complex to win by some 28 seconds in 28:54.4, knocking a second off the course record.

Longisa, who joined the Cougar program last spring, needed a surge in the final 100 meters to beat Oregon’s Diana Cherotich and win the 6,000-meter women’s race in 19:08.3, a tenth of a second under the course record.

The Cougar men finished third behind Oregon and Cal Baptist, which inched ahead in the final 1,000 meters. Gonzaga placed eighth, with Idaho 23rd and Eastern Washington 25th. Stanford and Oregon took the top two women’s spots, with WSU fourth and Gonzaga seventh – the Zags getting a seventh-place finish from sophomore Logan Hofstee, who’s in line for an at-large nationals invitation. Idaho placed 15th and EWU 28th.