By Erik Boal, DyeStatCAL Editor

The NCAA men's and women's West Regionals are scheduled for Friday, Nov. 11 at Haggin Oaks Golf Course in Sacramento. The women's 6-kilometer race is at 11 a.m. PST and the men's 10-kilometer competition at noon.

Here are 10 storylines to follow at one of the strongest regional meets in the country:

Are the Oregon men ready to rebound?

Edward Cheserek winning a fourth consecutive Pac-12 championship wasn’t the only significant outcome for the Ducks in Arizona. For the first time since 2005, Oregon didn’t place in the top three in the men’s final, with Colorado, Stanford and UCLA all finishing ahead of the Ducks. Oregon has placed in the top three in the West Regional final the past three years, including a victory in 2014 in Palo Alto. If the Ducks perform like they did at Pre-Nationals, then they should not only challenge for another regional victory, but should certainly place among the top two to guarantee a berth to the NCAA Championships. If the rest of the Ducks’ lineup doesn’t perform well behind Cheserek, Oregon will have to count on securing one of 13 available at-large berths, the majority of which should come from the Mountain and West regionals based on Kolas points earned during the regular season. Cheserek has won two of the past three regional titles, taking second to Stanford’s Maxim Korolev in 2014.

Will Stanford’s freshmen deliver an encore performance?

With freshmen Fiona O’Keeffe, Christina Aragon, Ella Donaghu and Hannah DeBalsi all among Stanford’s top seven in support of Vanessa Fraser, Danielle Katz and Abbie McNulty, the Cardinal placed third behind Colorado and Washington in the Pac-12 women’s final. With Colorado competing in the Mountain Regional, if Stanford’s talented young stars can rise to the occasion again, then the Cardinal possess the potential to secure an automatic berth to nationals as one of the top two teams regardless of whether Elise Cranny competes. Stanford hasn’t won at the West Regional since 2007, but the Cardinal did place in the top three every year from 1997-2014, before finishing fourth in the regionals last season before taking 14^th at the national final.

Is UCLA ready to go the distance?

Following a third-place finish behind Colorado and Stanford at the Pac-12 finals, the program’s first time placing in the top three at the conference championships since 1996, UCLA has an opportunity to qualify with an automatic berth for the national finals. Ferdinand Edman received impressive support from Jonah Diaz, Colin Burke, Austin O’Neil and Daniel De La Torre in the 8-kilometer conference final, but the Bruins will face a tougher challenge competing at the 10-kilometer distance. UCLA hasn’t placed in the top three at regionals since 2012 and is seeking its second appearance at the national finals in three years.

Three-peat pursuit for Ducks

Oregon has won the past two West Regional women’s titles and three in the past four seasons, but the Ducks will need to bounce back following a fourth-place finish at the Pac-12 finals. Freshman Katie Rainsberger finished fifth in her conference championship debut for the Ducks, but Oregon had only other athlete in the top 20, junior Alli Cash in 13th place. The Ducks have a strong enough resume of Kolas points to secure an at-large berth should they not secure an automatic qualifying spot by placing in the top two, but Oregon needs to keep its pack closer together in order to build momentum toward racing at nationals.

Will Cardinal rule again?

Stanford placed second to six-time men’s champion Colorado by a six-point margin at the Pac-12 final, but with the Buffaloes competing in the Mountain Regional, there is an opportunity for the Cardinal to capture a West Regional title for the first time since 2013. Grant Fisher took second to Oregon’s Edward Cheserek at the conference championship and Thomas Ratcliffe was the top freshman in the Pac-12 after placing eighth, but Stanford will be relying heavily on senior Sean McGorty to move up after finishing seventh in Arizona. Stanford has the necessary depth to win the regional with Garrett Sweat, Steven Fahy, Alex Ostberg, Blair Hurlock, Jack Keelan and Sam Wharton supporting the frontrunners, but the Cardinal can’t overlook UCLA and Oregon in order to secure an automatic berth to nationals.

What to expect from Washington

Amy Eloise-Neale became the first Washington female to win the Pac-12 title since 2011, but the No. 4 Huskies weren’t able to keep pace with top-ranked Colorado in a 41-point setback in Arizona. Charlotte Prouse placed sixth for Washington, just 10 seconds behind Neale, but the Huskies had only one other runner finish in the top 20 – freshman Kaitlyn Neal in 19^th – compared to the Buffaloes with seven in the top 17. Washington hasn’t won a West Regional title since 2011, but has placed in the top five in the regionals every year since 1997 to qualify for the national championships. That streak should continue, but Washington will need to reaffirm its depth in order to be in contention to make the podium at the national finals.

Hometown heroes

Lauren LaRocco and Peyton Bilo were teammates in high school at St. Francis of Sacramento and now both return home to compete at Haggin Oaks as conference champions. LaRocco, a junior at Portland, captured the West Coast Conference title in San Diego and Bilo, a sophomore at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, prevailed in the Big West Conference final in Hawaii. Although Portland isn’t favored to earn an automatic berth in either gender, the Pilots have the potential to secure at-large entries to compete in both the men’s and women’s national championships. Bilo has more pressure to advance since Cal Poly isn’t expected to advance to the national finals in either gender, but hasn’t finished lower than third in any race this season, losing only to Michigan’s Erin Finn and Colorado’s Erin Clark at Pre-Nationals, along with Stanford’s Elise Cranny at the Stanford Invitational. The NCAA selects a total of 38 individuals from non-qualifying teams in each gender from the nine regional championships to compete at the national finals.

Cougars seeking another memorable moment

Washington State’s John Whelan and Michael Williams placed second and third behind Oregon’s Edward Cheserek at last year’s West Regionals in Seattle, helping the Cougars finish fourth overall, but after earning all-conference honors at last season’s Pac-12 finals both standouts struggled at this year’s championships in Arizona. Williams finished 24^th and Whelan was 26^th for Washington State, both placing behind teammate Sam Levora in 15^th. Washington State has accumulated several Kolas points based on their regular-season performances and fifth-place finish at the Pac-12 championships – strengthening its resume for an at-large bid – but if Whelan and Williams can deliver impressive regional results again, then the Cougars will be in better position to return to nationals.

Point to prove for Peloquin

Boise State sophomore Brenna Peloquin secured big invitational wins at Roy Griak and Nuttycombe Wisconsin, but finished fourth behind New Mexico’s Alice Wright and Calli Thackery, along with Air Force’s Carina Gillespie at the Mountain West Conference finals. Peloquin is among the favorites to win the West Regional title after finishing fourth behind teammate and champion Allie Ostrander (redshirting this fall) at last year’s event. Emma Bates also won a regional title for Boise State in 2013. The last time a single program produced that level of women’s success at the regionals was Oregon’s Jordan Hasay winning three consecutive titles from 2010-12.

Big aspirations for Short

Senior Alex Short became San Francisco’s first West Coast Conference champion since 2007 and is now motivated to improve on a 15^th-place finish at last year’s West Regionals. Short placed 21^st at the Roy Griak Invitational and seventh at Pre-Nationals before winning the West Coast title, giving him the confidence to challenge the leaders at the longer 10-kilometer distance. Cheyne Inman, San Francisco’s last conference winner, only placed 56^th at the West Regionals in Oregon nine years ago.