SPU's Dania Holmberg gets NCAA auto qualifier, while Falcons & both Viking squads must wait until Monday...
Holmberg ran 20:50 over the 6k course as GNAC champion Emmanuelah Chelimo of Alaska Anchorage cruised to victory in 20:23, with Olivia Willett of Simon Fraser third in 20:52, Nancy Jeptoo of Alaska Anchorage fourth in 20:53, and Destiny Everett of Chico State rounding out the top five in 20:57.
Led by Everett, Chico State, the nation’s number 4 ranked team, won the regional title and one of the three automatic berths to the NCAA Division II championships in Sacramento in two weeks, scoring a low of 75 points.
In the biggest surprise of the meet, Northwest Nazarene, which only finished fifth in the GNAC championships two weeks ago, and was not ranked in the national top 25, finished second with 134 points, placing four runners in the top 30, while number 16 ranked Cal State East Bay got the third automatic spot to Sacramento with 142 points.
Number 13 Alaska Anchorage was fourth with 146 points, while number 14 Seattle Pacific was fifth with 153 points.
GNAC team champion and 11th ranked Western Washington was seventh with 175 points, while Central Washington was 18th with 471, and Saint Martin’s was 26th with 755 points.
For the Falcons, Kate Lilly finished behind Holmberg in 8th running 21:00.
Behind Lilly were Katherine Walter in 38th (21:49), Kelsey Washenberger in 53rd (22:04), and Sedona McNerney in 59th (22:09), as SPU ran a 1-5 split of 78 seconds.
Western Washington was led by Sophia Galvez in 16th in 21:11, followed by Tracy Melville in 28th in 21:32.
Rounding out the Viking scorers were Tovah Swartz-Ireland in 32nd (21:39), Rebecca Lehman (22:00) in 48th, and Aundrea Koger (22:07) in 57th, as WWU ran a 1-5 split of 56 seconds.
Western’s bid for a top five finish took a hit when Jane Barr, who was eighth at the GNACs, dropped out of the race after being in the mix for a top ten finish.
"It was a bit unfortunate with Jane not able to finish with just a little bit to go, but that's racing…you leave it all out on the course," added Viking head coach Pee Wee Halsell. "I thought the women's team ran hard and put it out there, it just wasn't there with some tough luck. I still think we have an outside shot at nationals as the whole body of work from the season was outstanding."
Both the Vikings and the Falcons must wait until Monday when the NCAA announces the ten at-large teams from all eight regional championships who will advance to Sacramento.
For the time being, Seattle Pacific’s Dania Holmberg will go to Sacramento as an individual qualifier by virtue of her second place finish.
In the men’s 10k championship race, GNAC champ Western Washington, who came into the regionals ranked number 21 in the USTFCCCA D2 coaches’ poll, finished fifth with a team score of 139 points, as the nation's number 2 ranked team, Chico State won with 43 points.
Behind Chico State were unranked Cal Poly Pomona with 115, followed by 16th ranked Cal State San Marcos at 121, and unranked Stanislaus State at 135.
Chico State, Cal Poly Pomona, and Cal State San Marcos got the three automatic qualifying spots for the NCAA championships in Sacramento.
Among the other Washington schools, Central Washington was 17th with 465 points, Seattle Pacific was 19th at 514, and Saint Martin’s was 20th at 523 points.
Western Washington’s scorers were led by James Jasperson in 18th (30:33), Edward Kiolbasa in 19th (30:35), and Eric Hamel in 21st (30:38).
Rounding out the Viking scorers were Deyago Peraza (30:49) in 28th, and Liam Cossette (31:26) in 53rd, giving them a 1-5 split of 53 seconds.
Like their female counterparts, the men must wait until Monday to find out whether or not they will get one of the ten at-large spots to the national championships.
Complete results of the NCAA Division II West Regionals are available here.
NOTE: The sports information offices of Western Oregon University, Western Washington University, Seattle Pacific University, and the Great Northwest Athletic Conference contributed to this report.
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