Central Washington's Nicole Soleim gets automatic bid to NCAA D2 nationals with fifth place finish at regionals...
Soleim ran a time of 21:20 over 6k, as Emmah Chelimo of Alaska Anchorage, who won the GNAC title two weeks ago, took the win in 20:58 over the snow covered course, with temperatures in the high teens.
Four places behind Soleim was her Wildcat teammate Alexa Shindruk, who ran 21:28, but must wait until Monday to find out if she will also go to the national championships in Pittsburgh as an at-large individual.
Seattle Pacific’s Kate Lilly led the Falcons across the line with her tenth place finish in 21:35, while teammates Kaylee Mitchell and Katherine Walter finished 16th and 19th in the same time of 21:44.
Dania Holmberg in 67th (22:35), and Elizabeth Thompson in 72nd (23:40) closed out the scoring for the Falcons.
For Western Washington, Jane Barr led the way with her 24th place finish in 21:51.
Alaska Anchorage and Simon Fraser earned the top two spots and automatic qualifying berths into the national championships, as the Seawolves scored a low of 66, with the Clan second at 85.
Seattle Pacific was fourth with 182, while Western Washington was fifth at 187, so both teams, who entered the West Regionals ranked 12th and 21st nationally must wait to find out if one or both of them will obtain at-large berths to the national championships.
Despite placing two individuals in the top ten, Central Washington finished tenth with 256 points, while Saint Martin’s scored 828 points to finish 26th, led by Alyssa Robinson in 161st, who ran 25:03.
In the men’s 10k, Western Washington had its best finish at the regional championships since 2015, as the Vikings took fifth with 159 points.
The Vikings were led by Jadon Olson, who finished 20th in 31:41, and Eric Hamel, who was 22nd in 31:43.
Others scoring for the Vikings were Kyler Sager in 28th (31:52), James Jasperson in 36th (32:03), and Edward Kiolbasa in 55th (32:29).
The Vikings, who were ranked 15th also must wait until Monday to find out if their overall season resume is good enough to earn an at-large spot in the nationals.
Central Washington finished tenth with 351 points, led by Corbin Carlton in 41st, who ran 32:09.
Seattle Pacific was 14th with 395 points, led by Colin Boutin in , who ran 32:36. Saint Martin’s was 23rd with 576 points, with Andrew Oslin leading the way in a time of 33:43.
Eddie King of Chico State won the race in 30:49, leading his squad to the team title with 39 points.
Simon Fraser flipped the table on GNAC rival Alaska Anchorage, finishing second with 63 points to the Seawolves’ 116. Both teams earned the other two automatic qualifying spots to the national championships.
Complete results of the NCAA Division II West Regionals are available here.
NOTE: The sports information offices of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, Central Washington University, Seattle Pacific University, Western Washington University, and the USTFCCCA, provided material for this report.
Comments