Nov. 3, 2007

Complete Results

BOISE, Id. - Bennett Grimes (R-Fr., Pocatello, ID/Century) placed fifth individually, helping the nationally ranked Western Washington University men's cross country team earn its first national berth since 2003 by placing second at the NCAA Division II West Regional on Saturday at Eagle Island State Park.

The Vikings, who were coming off a second straight title effort at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships, had 93 points. They did not qualify for nationals last year, finishing fourth, two points shy of a top-three finish.

Chico State won its sixth straight regional title with 39 points, placing all of its runners among the top 17. UC San Diego edged Western Oregon, 135 to 140, to finish third and gain the final national berth on Nov. 17 at Joplin, Missouri.

"It was not one of their best races of the year, but they ran a solid race, and we were second place by quite a bit, and we're going to nationals, which was our main goal," said Western coach Pee Wee Halsell. The Vikings entered the race ranked No.11 in the United States Cross Country Coaches Association/NCAA II Top 25.

Grimes completed the 10-kilometer course in 30:49. Placing first in 30:33 was Saint Martin's John Riak.

The Vikings' Jon Skelton (Sr., Mount Vernon/West Point) finished 19th in 31:38 and teammate Anthony Tomsich (Jr., Fairbanks, AK/West Valley), who missed the Great Northwest Athletic Conference meet to rest a sore achilles' tendon, was 20th at 31:40.

Daniel Phillips (R-Fr., Olympia) placed 25th (31:45) for Western, with Blake Medhaug (R-Fr., Bothell) 29th (32:02), Keith Lemay (Sr., Lynden/Lynden Christian) 32nd (32:14) and Jordan Welling (Fr., Burlington/Burlington-Edison) 40th (32:27).

Western's only other trip to the NCAA II nationals was in 2003 when four teams qualified from regionals and the Vikings placed fourth. They finished 13th at nationals that year.

In all, Western has made 11 national appearances, 10 of them as a NAIA member, with its highest finishes being fifth in 1995 and sixth in 1992.

In the women's 6-kilometer race, the Vikings placed 10th among 23 teams. Western freshman Sarah Porter (Hockinson) finished 13th in 21:16 and was one of two individuals from non-qualifying teams to earn a trip to nationals.

Porter also earned region all-star honors by being among the top 15 finishers.

Seattle Pacific became the first GNAC team to win the regional title since Central Washington in 2000, edging pre-meet favorite Cal State Los Angeles, 45 to 54.

The Falcons' Jessica Pixler won her second straight individual title. Her winning time of 19:53 was the first sub-20 minute regional clocking at least 10 years.

Two other teams going to nationals are Chico State (64) and UC San Diego (125), which placed third and fourth, respectively.

All four squads were ranked among the top 10 nationally entering the meet with Cal State L.A. No.4, Seattle Pacific No.6, Chico State No.7 and UC San Diego No.10. Last year, Cal State L.A. snapped a string of three regional titles by Chico State.

Seattle Pacific, which last won a regional crown in 1996, placed three athletes in the top six and four in the top 15

Nov. 3 - NCAA Division II Cross Country West Regional - Boise, ID (Eagle Island State Park)

MEN

TEAM RESULTS - 1. Chico State 39, 2. Western Washington 93, 3. UC San Diego 135, 4. Western Oregon 140, 5. Alaska Anchorage 152, 6. Cal State Stanislaus 172, 7. Humboldt State 181, 8. Central Washington 228, 9. BYU Hawaii 275, 10. San Francisco State 284, 11. Northwest Nazarene 290, 12. Hawaii Pacific 301, 13. Cal Poly Pomona 315, 14. Seattle U. 330, 15. Hawaii Hilo 383, 16. Alaska Fairbanks 392, 17. Montana State Billings 510, 18. Chaminade 552, 19. Grand Canyon 557.

WWU INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (10K) - 5. Bennett Grimes 30:49, 19. Jon Skelton 31:38, 20. Anthony Tomsich 31:40, 25. Daniel Phillips 31:45. 29. Blake Medhaug 32:02, 32. Keith Lemay 32:14, 40. Jordan Welling 32:27.

TOP 15 - 1. John Riak, St. Martin's, 30:33; 2. Sam Scotchmer, Central Washington, 30:36; 3. Tim Tollefson, Chico State, 30:41; 4. David Kiplagat, Alaska Anchorage, 30:45; 5. Bennett Grimes, Western Washington, 30:49; 6. Vicente Moreno, Cal State Stanislaus, 30:51; 7. Jasper Peach, Humboldt State, 30:56; 8. Brendan Scanlon, Chico State, 30:58; 9. Mike Schmidt, Western Oregon, 31:01; 10. Michael Wickman, Chico State, 31:02; 11. Manny Mejia, Chico State, 31:03; 12. Jordan Page, Chico State, 31:04; 13. Kenneth Harper, BYU-Hawaii, 31:05; 14. Bobby Olivera, Cal State Stanislaus, 31:07; 15. Angel Marquez, Chico State, 31:13.

WOMEN

TEAM RESULTS - 1. Seattle Pacific 45, 2. Cal State L.A. 54, 3. Chico State 64, 4. UC San Diego 125, 5. Northwest Nazarene 231, 6. Seattle U. 251, 7. Cal Poly Pomona 260, 7. Western Oregon 260, 9. Central Washington 275, 10. Western Washington 278, 11. Alaska Anchorage 297, 12. Cal St. Stanislaus 302, 13. St. Martin's 347, 14. San Francisco St. 356, 15. CSU San Bernardino 370, 16. Montana State Billings 374, 17. BYU-Hawaii 409, 18. Humboldt State 441, 18. Alaska Fairbanks 441, 20. Hawaii Pacific 486, 21. Hawaii Hilo 514, 22. Sonoma State 671, 23. Chaminade 699.

WWU INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (6K) - 13. Sarah Porter 21:16, 50. Keely Kaligis 22:30, 67. Valerie Matthews 22:49, 70. Maeve Sayres 22:53, 78. Danielle Slaughter 23:01, 82. Courtney Olsen 23:06, 102. Shellane Jensen 23:33

TOP 15 - 1. Jessica Pixler, Seattle Pacific, 19:53; 2. Jane Larson, Seattle Pacific, 20:26; 3. Sarah Montez, Chico State, 20:27; 4. Ashley Puga, Northwest Nazarene, 20:36; 5. Karla Alburez, Cal State L.A., 20:45; 6. Suzie Strickler, Seattle Pacific, 21:03; 7. Diane Dunn, UC San Diego, 21:04; 8. Liliana Hernandez, Cal State L.A., 21:05; 9. Lindsay Nelson, Chico State, 21:05; 10. Maribel Cespedes, Cal State L.A., 21:07; 11. Shawna Burger, Cal State L.A., 21:08; 12. Aisha Kamala, Chico State, 21:15; 13. Sarah Porter, Western Washington, 21:16; 14. Cherise McNair, Cal State Stanislaus, 21:18; 15. Karin Rohde, Seattle Pacific, 21:23.5.