LA JOLLA, Calif. - The UC San Diego men's and women's cross country teams will travel to San Francisco to compete in the 2009 NCAA Division II West Regional Championships at Speedway Meadow in Golden Gate Park on Saturday. The women's 6k race will begin at 9:00 a.m. and the 10k men's event is scheduled to follow at 10:00.

Hosted by San Francisco State, Saturday's West Regional will feature an elite field that includes four women's teams and four men's squads currently ranked in the USTFCCCA Top 25. Along with defending regional champion and second-ranked Chico State, No. 5 Alaska Anchorage, No. 6 Seattle Pacific, and No. 10 Western Washington highlight the women's field, while No. 3 Chico State, No. 6 WWU, No. 17 Cal Poly Pomona, and No. 22 Alaska Anchorage are the teams to watch in the men's race. The Wildcats also captured the regional title in the men's race at the Triton Cross Country Course last season.

The top four women's teams and the top three squads on the men's side will advance to the NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championships on November 21 in Evansville, Ind.

Currently ranked No. 5 in the West Region, UCSD's women enter Saturday's competition following a second place finish at the CCAA Championships in McKinleyville on October 25. Sophomore All-American Bre Schofield led the way once again for the Tritons, finishing second overall with a time of 22:13.5. The Carlsbad, Calif. native improved upon her third place finish at the conference meet in 2008 and took home All-CCAA honors for her performance for the second year in a row.

Following Schofield was senior Marie Schaper, who clocked in at 23:44.2 to claim 18th place, while Elena Inouye finished 19th with a time of 23:45.1. Aaryn Kobayashi (23:53.6) and Caprice Thompson (24:07.9) rounded out the scoring for UCSD, finishing in 24th and 32nd place, respectively.

The Tritons finished fifth in the CCAA Championships on the men's side and it was Mike Wright leading the way. The senior runner finished 22nd overall with a time of 26:22.7 to pace UCSD for the second time in five events this season. Wright finished right in front of sophomores Jeremy Riley and John Svet, who finished 23rd and 24th with respective times of 26:33.0 and 26:39.6, while Eric Baum (27:04.5) and Alex Corliss (27:13.9) were the final two Tritons to score, finishing in 31st and 34th place.

The Triton men are ranked No. 10 in the West entering Saturday's event.

Both squads will be seeking a return to the NCAA National Championships when the gun goes off on Saturday. The Triton women finished sixth at the West Regionals in 2008, failing to qualify for the national meet for the first time in seven years, while the men missed out on a second straight national championship appearance with seventh place finish.

Schofield and Jake LeVieux qualified for the NCAA National Championships as individuals last year, finishing 22nd and 92nd, respectively, in Slippery Rock, Pa.