Women's Team Competes for Second Time

Whitworth at NCAA Championships Highland Hills GC Cleveland, Ohio DIII Championship Site

Dana Misterek

Nick Gallagher

SPOKANE, Wash. -- The Whitworth University women's cross country team, and two Pirate men, are headed to the 2009 NCAA Division III championships this week.

The Pirate women earned their way to the NCAA Championships with a dominating performance at last week's west regional meet. The Pirates placed all five of their scorers among the top 20 to win by nearly 60 points. It was the second west region title for Whitworth.

Dana Misterek (So., Gig Harbor, Wash.) was third, Joy Shufeldt (Fr., Portland, Ore.) finished sixth and Tonya Turner (So., Spokane, Wash.) was eighth, giving Whitworth three runners among the top ten finishers at regional. Kathryn Williams (Jr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) took 13th and Jo E. Mayer (Sr., Spokane, Wash.) finished 21st (20th among scorers).

The last time Whitworth's women's team qualified for nationals was in 2002. The Pirates finished 21st as a team that season.

Leslie Nelson finished 14th in 2003 as an individual, still the highest individual place by a Pirate runner.

Aaron Jenkins (So., Pocatello, Idaho) and Nick Gallagher (Jr., Bedford, Iowa) are headed to the championship meet as individual competitors after finishing in 11th and 12th place, respectively, at last week's regional meet. The Pirate men finished fourth at the regionals, just missing an at-large berth to the national meet.

Gallagher will be making his third straight appearance at the championships, while Jenkins in returning for a second time.

The highest men's individual finish for Whitworth was 45th by Doug Blackburn in 2005.

The Coach: The fall of 2009 marks Dr. Toby Schwarz's 12th season as head coach of the Whitworth Cross Country program. In 2008 Schwarz led the Pirate men to a Northwest Conference title and the NCAA DIII West Regional Championship, which qualified them for their first ever NCAA Championships meet. In 2002 Schwarz led the Whitworth women to an NCAA West Region title and the team's first-ever berth to the NCAA Championships. Schwarz was named the NCAA West Region women's Coach of the Year in 2002, the men’s Coach of the Year in 2008; and was honored as the NWC Men’s Coach of the Year in 2008.

Coach Schwarz's Quotes: Toby Schwarz talks about the team's performance at the NCAA West Region meet and gives his outlook for this weekend's national championship event. Click here to listen to Coach Schwarz's Quotes.