The competition will be new and the views will be different at Saturday's Pacific West Conference cross country championships.

Hawai'i's four local Division II colleges raced against each other the entire season, and in five races the faces and competition have remained relatively the same.

Saturday's PacWest championships at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco will be the first time the teams have competed outside of the state.

There also will be new competition from the league's Mainland schools and the backdrop for it will be a trek around a polo field and through the woods of the giant park.

Brigham-Young Hawai'i is the defending women's champion and Hawai'i Pacific has won the last two men's titles. The women will be running a 5-kilometer course and the men will do an 8K.

"We have a lot of guys from last year so they kind of know what to expect," said Hawai'i Pacific coach Christian Friis. "It's hard though coming from a whole year away, where you've been competing in Hawai'i. That's probably the main challenge we're looking into."

As much as the sport is individual, the team title will depend on how high each team's five scoring runners finish. BYUH, ranked ninth in the West region, will be led by junior transfer Spencer Deavila, who has earned three PacWest weekly honors this season. HPU, ranked 10th, will be led by Canadian sophomore Dany Malley.

The BYUH men won three races this year and tied HPU for first in another. Host Academy of Art will also be in the mix for the men's title.

The BYUH women, ranked ninth in the West region, have won all five meets this season, including a narrow victory at the Big Wave Invitational hosted by the University of Hawai'i.

"Despite who's coaching, they're doing OK," said BYUH coach Norman Kaluhiokalani. "They're a young team, only one senior and (the rest are) sophomores and freshmen. They're a good team."

Sophomore Lacey Krout has earned PacWest weekly honors twice this season and sophomore Katherine Buxton was honored once. Kaluhiokalani said this is the strongest team he's fielded and the Seasiders' goal is to do well at the West regional meet Nov. 7 at Golden Gate Park to qualify for nationals.

The local competition has been enough to push the Seasiders through the season.

"Locally, that's what has kept us competitive," Kaluhiokalani said. "HPU and (UH) Hilo, even UH-Mänoa have been good for us, too. They have kept us on our toes in terms of working hard and preparing for this meet. They have great coaches, they do well and they make you work hard."

The UH-Hilo men's and women's teams are comprised of runners mostly from the Big Island.

Chaminade is coached by former HPU standout Masako Sagawa.