BILLINGS, MT - On Saturday, November 19th, the Sonoma State cross country team saw seven runners compete in this year's NCAA West Regionals hosted by Montana State Billings. Head coach David Lawrence Jr. and his program would place 19th out of 25 teams and record back-to-back top-20 finishes at the regional competition for the first time since 2009 as the Seawolves finished in 18th place last year.

Freshman Gianna Bomarito once again led the way with a top-40 finish out of the near 200 runners at this years regional. Weather certainly played a factor in today's race as thick snow was visible on the ground and temperatures were seen dipping below 30 degrees. Bomarito would record a time of 22:01.9 good for 33rd place. Following Bomarito would be second year runner Sophie Rodriguez who recorded an impressive time of 22:53.2, good for another top-100 finish at 75th place. Bomarito and Rodriguez would go down as the only two runners for SSU to finish inside the top-100 individually. 

Maddie Baytosh, Sara Wenger, and Alex Boyle would follow for Sonoma State as Wenger and Boyle each competed in their second regional of their collegiate careers. Baytosh would clock in at 23:25.8 and 105th place. Wenger would follow with a time of 23:47.7 and then Boyle rounding out the middle portion for SSU with a time of 24:06.6. Maddy Petersen would also race in her second west regional and record a time of 24:24.7, good for 141st place. Abby Ribet would finish things off with a time of 24:26.1 for the Seawolves.   

Sonoma State raced with seven runners in this year's event compared to five from last year and recorded their second straight top-20 finish at the west regional. Freshman Gianna Bomarito will now await national championship consideration and look to become SSU's first participant at nationals in over two decades when program great Kathy Lenno did so in back-to-back seasons in 2000 and 2001. Congratulations on a great season from the Seawolves cross country team and be sure to head to NCAA.com for the full 2022 national championship schedule. 

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