CHINO, Calif. -- Whitworth senior Julie Lauterbach is headed back to the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships after finishing fifth today at the NCAA Division III West Regionals at Prado Park.

Lauterbach finished fifth in the regional race

Lauterbach earns one of the individual runner spots in the national meet by finishing among the top five individuals not affiliated with national qualifying at the regional meet. She led the Pirate women to a 7th place team finish (187 points) by running the 6k course in 22:56.63. Willamette's Sarah Zerzan won the race in 21:45.68. Willamette won the regional with 63 points.

Jo E Mayer finished 38th for the women in 24:29.98 and Gillian Goodrich was 49th in 24:48.93. Mayer and Goodrich are freshmen. Andrea Carnahan and Emily Hurd rounded out the Pirate scoring runners in 55th (25:00.48) and 56th (25:02.58) places, respectively.

Click here for complete women's results.

Whitworth freshman Dusty Caseria earned All-West Region honors by finishing 34th in the men's race. He ran the 8k course in 26:24.15. Julian Boggs of Colorado College won the race in 24:32.60. The top 35 finishers in both races are considered all-region.

The Pirate men finished 9th overall with 228 points. Willamette men made it a Bearcat sweep by winning with 75 points.

Jeff Grassley finished 39th for the Bucs with a time of 26:31.05, followed by Jacob Deitz in 42nd place (26:37.10). Collin Stewart took 59th in 27:11.70 and Travis Huskisson rounded out Whitworth's scoring in 66th place (27:31.95).

Click here for complete men's results.

Lauterbach will be making her second straight appearance at the NCAA Championship meet next weekend at Voice of America Park in Mason, Ohio. Last season she finished 64th in her first appearance.