This past weekend's Stanford Invitational brought a lot of fast 10k times. There are now 21 athetes currently in the west region who have a sub 29:00 10k PB. And when you dive even deeper into the 10k field you discover something crazy...

Qualifying for the 10k out of the West Region is going to be VERY difficult this year.

Here's Why...

First let's look at potential locks to be in the top 12 at the West Prelims...

FloTrack's West Regional 10k Locks:

				NCAA 10k Champs		XC All-Americans
10k PB	Athlete	YR	School	2014	2013	2014	2013
28:30.18	Cheserek, Edward	SO	Oregon	1st (1)	-	1st (1)	1st (1)
28:30.33	Scott, Marc	SO	Tulsa	-	-	9th (14)	-
28:33.48	Lutz, Craig	SR	Texas	-	1st (3)	-	8th (15)
28:35.76	Zienasellassie, Futsum	JR	Northern Arizona	-	-	3rd (3)	3rd (4)
28:36.53	McElroy, Matt	SR	Northern Arizona	-	-	16th (31)	11th (25)
28:36.64	Witt, Jason	SR	BYU	4th (12)	-	-	-
28:43.70	Fauble, Scott	SR	Portland	-	-	8th (12)	7th (13)
28:45.84	Campbell, Kemoy	SR	Arkansas	-	-	-	-
28:57.51	Rosa, Jim	SR	Stanford	2nd (6)	-	-	4th (5)
29:04.08	Jenkins, Eric	SR	Oregon	-	-	2nd (2)	-
29:13.80	Korolev, Maksim	SR	Stanford	-	5th (24)	4th (4)	2nd (3)

That leaves us with just one, that's right ONE spot remaining to qualify for the NCAA 10k in Eugene. The craziness is that there are 20 other athletes who have proven that they have a shot to be at the NCAA meet as well. 20 legit runners vying for 1 spot just goes to show how difficult it is to be a 10k runner in the west region. Who do you think is the best runner among this contender list?

FloTrack's West Regional 10k Contenders:

NCAA 10k Champs XC All-Americans 10k PB Athlete YR School 2014 2013 2014 2013 28:41.23 Rutherford, Ryan SR Illinois State - - - - 28:42.35 Perry, David SR Portland - - - - 28:42.56 Simbassa, Abbabiya SR Oklahoma - - - - 28:43.18 Jewkes, Nate SR Southern Utah - 2nd (11) 10th (15) - 28:44.65 Nelson, Aaron JR Washington - - 12th (21) 10th (20) 28:44.72 Nelson, Jonathan JR BYU - - - - 28:51.56 Sweatt, Garrett SO Stanford - - - - 28:52.57 Rackers, Tim SR Tulsa - - - - 28:52.70 Murphy, Pierce JR Colorado - - 19th (35) 16th (39) 28:53.12 Hawks, Hayden SR Southern Utah - - - - 28:59.37 King, Tyler JR Washington - - 22nd (40) - 28:59.62 Lewis, Kevin SR Iowa - - - - 29:05.11 Dohner, Ryan SR Texas - 4th (23) - 5th (11) 29:10.38 Melancon, Matthew JR Oregon - 3rd (20) - - 29:11.44 Byrne, Tyler SR Northern Arizona 7th (19) - - 12th (29) 29:18.04 Pearson, Morgan JR Colorado - - - 9th (17) 29:23.21 Wharton, Sam FR Stanford - - 21st (39) - 29:35.67 Moussa, Ammar JR Colorado - - 5th (5) - 29:40.56 Lusignan, Trent JR South Dakota St. - - - 6th (12) NT Schrobilgen, Malachy SO Wisconsin - - 7th (10) 14th (33)

Note: Lists were generated based on who we think might choose to enter the 10k

Let us know who you think will qualify out of the west region in the comments below!