Peloquin finishes sixth at NCAAs; UW's Neale eighth, while WSU's Williams earns All-America status...

TERRE HAUTE, Indiana—Boise State sophomore Brenna Peloquin (left/photo by Paul Merca) finished sixth in the women’s 6k race at the NCAA Division I cross country championships at the Lavern Gibson Championship Course on a cold, windy, and blustery day, in complete contrast to yesterday’s conditions, which were near 70 degrees.

Peloquin, a native of Gig Harbor, was with the leaders for most of the race before losing contact in the last kilometer, as she ran 19:55, 13 seconds behind winner Karissa Schweizer of Missouri.

Two places behind Peloquin was the reigning Pac-12 and NCAA West regional champ, the University of Washington’s Amy-Eloise Neale, who worked her way through the pack to finish in 19:59.

The rest of the #7 ranked Husky squad, which had high hopes of a podium finish, collectively did not run up to expectations, finishing 12th with a final team score of 352 points.

The University of Oregon, bolstered by freshman Katie Rainsberger’s 4th place finish, won the national title by a 125-126 count over Michigan, with Pac-12 champ Colorado third with 134 points.

After Neale’s eighth place finish, freshman Kaitlyn Neal was the next Husky finisher in 78th in 20:44, followed by Izzi Batt-Doyle in 109th in 20:53.

Rounding out Washington’s scorers were Katie Knight in 113th (20:54), and Kaylee Flanagan in 150th (21:05).

Eastern Washington’s Sarah Reiter finished 86th in a time of 20:47.

The Washington State men’s team had a solid run, finishing 14th, as Michael Williams (left/photo by Paul Merca)  earned his first All-America certificate, finishing 30th in 30:17.

Following Williams for the Cougars were John Whelan in 63rd (30:38), Nathan Tadesse in 113th (30:59), Sam Levora in 115th (30:59), and Chandler Teigen in 145th (31:13).

Colorado’s John Dressel earned his second straight All-America certificate, as the Mt. Spokane HS grad finished 33rd in 30:22.

Oregon’s Tanner Anderson from Spokane’s North Central HS finished 68th in 30:40, followed by Shadle Park/Spokane’s Nathan Weitz of Northern Arizona in 95th in 30:51, the same time as Miller Haller of Boise State and Edmonds/Woodway HS, who was 96th.

Washington’s Fred Huxham was 100th in 30:52.  

Portland’s Nick Hauger from Spokane’s Shadle Park HS finished 154th in 31:18, followed by Boise State’s Riley Campbell from Tahoma HS, who was 212th in 31:51.

Weitz was the sixth man for #1 ranked Northern Arizona, who won their first national championship, as the Lumberjacks scored 125 points, with Stanford second at 158, and Syracuse third with 164.

In a mild upset, Villanova’s Patrick Tiernan won the national title in 29:22, with three-time defending champion Edward Cheserek third in 29:48.

The link to complete results is available here.

PORTER SISTERS EARN NCAA D2 ALL-AMERICA STATUS...

In St. Leo, Florida, Western Washington’s Isaac Derline finished 102nd in the NCAA Division II cross country championships under sunny skies.

Derline ran 32:18 over the 10 kilometer distance, as Vincent Kiprop of Missouri Southern won the national title in a time of 29:08.

In the women’s 6k race, Saint Martin’s Shannon Porter finished 24thth in a time of 21:14, while her sister Georgia, who runs for Western State in Colorado finished eighth in a time of 20:40.

The Hockinson HS grads joined older sister Sarah (Porter) Crouch, who competed for Western Washington in earning All-America honors in cross country.

Kendra Foley of Grand Valley State in Michigan won the individual title in 20:02.

The link to the results page is available here.  

NOTE:  The NCAA contributed to this report.