The Husky cross country teams ran well this week at the West Regionals in California. For the women, it was simply a warmup for Nationals. For the men, this was the event that would decide whether their season continued.

Late yesterday afternoon, the NCAA announced the qualifiers for Nationals. The Husky men received an at-large bid into the event.

The Husky women already knew they were headed to nationals. And for those who haven’t followed the UW cross country women and are wondering just how good they really are, consider this: Despite sitting two of its highly talented runners on Saturday, only two competitors — Alex Kosinski and Nicole Blood of Oregon — placed ahead of the Washington team’s top-five.

“Just another day at the office,” coach Greg Metcalf said Saturday. “We were in control, packed together and not real stressed today.”

The Huskies, the nation’s No. 1 team, took the event by a landslide; its 25 total points topped No. 2 Oregon by 37. Most impressive about the group’s performance, though, was the manner in which it crossed the finish line.

“Every single person ran well for us to have just 11 seconds between one and five,” Metcalf said. “Our young women did a great job.”

Christine Babcock, Mel Lawrence, Katie Follett, Anita Campbell and Amanda Miller finished in a pack, as though they were merely taking a group jog. Metcalf made the call to rest Lauren Saylor and Kendra Schaaf due to the team’s automatic qualification for Nationals.

The men, on the other hand, had to fight for a spot in the NCAA Championships on Nov. 24. The group knew that its performance would directly dictate whether or not the season would continue.

Led by Jeremy Mineau’s ninth-place effort and top-30 outings by Kelly Spady, Jake Schmitt and Jon Harding, the men ran hard in the heavy heat and ultimately earned fifth place — a very reasonable standing, considering the depth of talent on the field.

“This is the deepest region in the country,” Metcalf said. “We deserve to be at the national meet.”

Reach reporter Ben Foutz at sports@dailyuw.com.