Pirate Men Must Wait and Hope

Whitworth Cross Country at NCAA West Regionals Women 1st of 17 Men 4th of 16

Dana Misterek

Aaron Jenkins

CLAREMONT, Calif. -- Whitworth University took all of the drama out of the 2009 NCAA Division III West Region women's race on Saturday, rolling to a team victory by a margin of almost sixty points at the Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on-campus course. The Pirate men finished in fourth place and must wait until at-large announcements are made on Sunday to find out if they will be joining the women at the 2009 NCAA Division III Championships next weekend.

The Pirate women placed five runners among the top 20 scorers to roll past runner-up Whitman 49-108.

Dana Misterek (So., Gig Harbor, Wash.) finished third in 22:10.74, while Joy Shufeldt (Fr., Portland, Ore.) was sixth in 22:29.25 and Tonya Turner (So., Spokane, Wash.) was eigth in 22:44.29, giving the Pirates three high-scoring finishers.

Kathryn Williams (Jr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) was 13th (23:03.28), while Jo E Mayer (Sr., Spokane, Wash.) completed Whitworth's scoring in 21st place (23:41.36).

Alicia Freese of Pomona-Pitzer won the six kilometer race in 22:07.60.

All five Pirate scorers earn All-Region honors.

There were 17 teams in the race and the Northwest Conference had five teams among the top eight: Whitworth 49, Whitman 108, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 128, Pomona-Pitzer 130, Occidental 132, Linfield 144, Willamette 161, Lewis & Clark 188.

Click here for complete women's results.

Whitworth's regional title is the second ever for the Pirate women. The previous west region title came in 2002 and the Whitworth women will be making their second appearance as a team at the national championship meet.

The Whitworth men could not repeat as west region champions this season, finishing fourth overall. Champion Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, runner-up Willamette and third place Colorado College. There were four NWC schools among the top eight teams in the 16-team field: Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 50, Willamette 64, Colorado College 91, Whitworth 93, Pomona-Pitzer 119, Lewis & Clark 193, Linfield 195, Occidental 240.

Jackson Brainerd of Colorado College was the individual champion on the eight kilometer course with a time of 25:26.65.

Aaron Jenkins (So., Pocatello, Idaho) and Nick Gallagher (Jr., Bedford, Iowa) secured individual spots to the NCAA Championship meet by finishing in 11th and 12th place, respectively. Jenkins' time was 26:09.04 while Gallagher finished in 26:15.19.

Tyler Dudley (So., Salem, Ore.) was 17th in 26:23.00 and Collin Stewart (Sr., Carbondale, Colo) ran finished 27th in 26:52.96. Trevor Berrian (Fr., North Bend, Ore.) rounded out Whitworth's scoring in 33rd place (27:04.68 ). All five Pirate scorers earn all-region honors by finishing among the top 35.

Click here for complete men's results.

Whitworth's women, and the top two men, will now head the NCAA Division III Championships next Saturday in Cleveland, Ohio.