Bearcat Men Win West Regional Championship in Cross Country

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

SALEM, ORE. -- The Willamette University men's cross country team edged out Claremont-Mudd-Scripps to win the NCAA Division III West Regional championship on Saturday, Nov. 13 at Bush's Pasture Park. Willamette finished with a team score of 63, while CMS registered a team score of 65. Whitworth University took third place with a score of 80.

Fourth place in the men's team standings went to Colorado College at 98. Pomona-Pitzer was fifth with a score of 133.

In the women's race, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps won the team title with a score of 62. Whitworth placed second with a team score of 97 and Whittier College was third at 108. Lewis & Clark College took fourth at 114 and Whitman College followed in fifth at 169.

Willamette won its seventh West Regional men's title in the past nine years, including six championships in a row from 2002 through 2007. Claremont-Mudd Scripps, which also won in 2001 and 2008, earned its second West Regional women's championship in the past three years.

The top two teams in each race earned automatic berths into the NCAA Division III Championships next Saturday (Nov. 20) in Waverly, Iowa. The Willamette and CMS men, along with the CMS and Whitworth women, have secured their trips to Iowa. Teams placing third, fourth and fifth are eligible for at-large berths, which will be awarded by the NCAA on Sunday, Nov. 14.

A total of 16 automatic berths and 16 at-large bids will fill the field of team entries for each race at the NCAA Championships. In addition, the top seven runners in each regional whose teams have not received automatic or at-large bids will qualify as individuals.

WU women's runner Kimber Mattox (So., Bend, OR/Bend HS/Cornell Univ.) will represent Willamette at the NCAA Championships. She took seventh place in the women's race with a time of 22:37.11 and is guaranteed to receive an individual berth.

Theresa Edwards (So., Lake Tapps, WA/Bonney Lake HS) of Willamette finished 13th. She will advance to next week's championship meet if the West Region receives a third team bid, which will move her into the top seven individual spots.

Jackson Brainerd of Colorado College won his second consecutive individual men's title with a time of 25:23.17 over the 8-kilometer course. Stefan Redfield (Sr., Sisters, OR/Sisters HS) of Willamette placed second in 25:30.10, and Brian Sutter of CMS was third at 25:37.09.

Brian Kopaczynski of CMS crossed the finish line in fourth place at 25:40.50. Eric Kleinsasser from Occidental College was fifth with a time of 25:41.52 and Kris Brown from CMS was sixth in 25:42.35.

Willamette's Leo Castillo (Jr., Parkdale, OR/Hood River Valley HS) was seventh at 25:44.00 and his teammate, Kevin Aubol (So., Ellensburg, WA/Ellensburg HS), was eighth at 25:46.86. Rounding out the top 10 were Aaron Jenkins of Whitworth in ninth with a time of 25:48.70 and Jeremy Kalmus from the University of Redlands in tenth after finishing in 25:49.65.

The winning team score for the Willamette men's team included five places in the top 30, as the Bearcats finished 2-7-8-17-29. Redfield, Castillo and Aubol led the way, while Ryan McLaughlin (Sr., Milwaukie, OR/Milwaukie HS) took 17th in 26:04.10 and Ben Donovan (Jr., Minneapolis, MN/South HS) took 29th in 26:33.48 to complete the team score.

CMS had three of the top six finishers (3-4-6), but the Stags also counted 25th and 27th toward their team score and were edge out by the Bearcats.

Annie Lydens of Pomona-Pitzer took first place in the 6-kilometer women's race. She completed the course in 21:51.84. Jennifer Tave from Claremont-Mudd-Scripps finished second with a time of 21:54.79. Michele Callaway of Whittier was third at 21:57.81.

Joy Shufeldt of Whitworth achieved fourth place as she reached the finish line in 22:10.81. Emily Thomas from L&C took fifth place at 22:16.99, while Tonya Turner from Whitworth was sixth at 22:27.91. Mattox followed in seventh place (22:37.11) and Illana Livstrom of L&C was eighth with a time of 22:39.38.

Toccoa Kahovec of California Lutheran University placed ninth in 22:40.83. Kerrin Smith from CMS was 10th overall as she completed the race in 22:45.70.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps combined 1st place among scorers (Lydens was Pomona-Pitzers's only women's runner), along with 9th, 11th, 18th and 23rd to win the women's team title. The Athenas won by 35 points.

The top 35 individual finishers in each race earned All-West Region honors. In the men's race, six runners from CMS were named All-West Region, while five runners each from Willamette, Whitworth and Colorado College received All-West Region recognition.

In the women's race, All-West Region accolades went to six runners for CMS, five runners from Whittier, and four runners from Whitworth. A total of nine men's teams and 10 women's teams had at least one All-Region selection.