Willamette Men Win NWC Championship Led by Bennett's Individual Title

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

FOREST GROVE, ORE. -- The Willamette University men's cross country team won the 2012 Northwest Conference team title during the NWC Championships on Saturday, Oct. 27 at the Sunset Grove Golf Course. Parker Bennett (Jr., Sisters, OR/Sisters HS) won the NWC individual men's title to lead the Bearcats.

Bennett earned the men's individual championship with a time of 25:48 for the 8-kilometer course. He won the race by 15 seconds over Alan DenAdel from Pacific Lutheran University, who took second place in 26:03. Matt Klein from the University of Puget Sound placed third by finishing the course in 26:12.

Nathan Conrad (Fr., Bothell, WA, Bothell HS) from Willamette registered a fourth place finish with a time of 26:28.

Willamette took second place in the women's team standings. Lewis & Clark College won the women's title with a score of 21.

Emily Thomas of L&C won the individual women's title over the 6-kilometer course with a time of 22:37. Melissa Newton-Mora from L&C took second place in 22:50. Michaela Freeby (So., Milwaukie, OR/Rex Putnam HS) of Willamette achieved third place in 22:58.

WU achieved a score of 40 to win the men's championship. Lewis & Clark took second place at 90, while Puget Sound was third at 96.

Whitworth University finished fourth at 113, George Fox University placed fifth at 128, Linfield College was sixth at 143, Whitman College earned seventh place at 162, Pacific University was eighth at 181 and Pacific Lutheran University placed ninth at 205.

Bennett, DenAdel, Klein and Conrad earned First Team All-NWC honors. Also receiving First Team All-NWC recognition were Joseph Pia from George Fox in fifth place at 26:29, Andrew Ledonne from L&C in sixth place also at 26:29, and Joseph Glandow of Linfield in seventh place at 26:31.

The Bearcats won with a 1-4-8-13-14 finish, as all five of Willamette's scorers achieved All-NWC honors. Garnering Second Team All-NWC status were Yonny Castillo (Fr., Parkdale, OR/Hood River Valley HS) in eighth at 26:33, Kit Kingstad (Jr., Beaverton, OR/Beaverton HS) in 13th at 26:52 and Ben Beeler in 14th at 26:54.

Jacob Shafi (Fr., Pleasanton, CA/Amador Valley HS) placed 15th in 26:54, along with Beeler, but just missed All-NWC honors.

The NWC team championship earned by the Willamette men was their 20th overall title and the ninth for the Bearcats since 2001.

In the women's team standings, L&C was followed by Willamette with a score of 48. Whitworth finished third at 97 and Linfield was fourth at 104. Whitman placed fifth at 107, while Puget Sound claimed sixth place at 187, Pacific was seventh at 196, George Fox took eighth at 200 and Pacific Lutheran was ninth at 247.

First Team All-Conference runners in the women's race in addition to Thomas, Newton-Mora and Freeby were Emily Fagan from Lewis & Clark in fourth at 23:11, Elisabeth Spencer from Whitworth in fifth at 23:13, Kaitlyn Throgmorton of L&C in sixth at 23:15 and Theresa Edwards (Sr., Lake Tapps, WA/Bonney Lake HS) in seventh place at 23:19.

Freeby and Edwards led Willamette, with Juliet Farnan (Fr., Lafayette, CA/Campolindo HS) providing a strong finish in 11th place at 23:30. Amanda Tamanaha (Sr., Honolulu, HI/Saint Andrews Priory HS) finished 13th in 23:40 and Stevie Gildehaus (Jr., Spokane, Valley, WA/University HS) was 14th in 23:45.

Farnan, Tamanaha and Gildehaus all gained Second Team All-NWC recognition.

Up next for the Bearcats will be the NCAA West Regional on Nov. 10. The West Regional will be hosted by Willamette at the Oak Knoll Golf Course near Independence, Ore.