SALEM, Ore. -- It was a day of firsts for the Whitworth men's cross country team on Saturday at the NCAA Division III regionals at Bush's Pasture Park. Nick Gallagher (So., Bedford, Iowa) finished first in the men's race, leading the Pirates to a first place team finish, earning the school's first berth in the NCAA Division III Men's Cross Country Championships. It is the first time a Whitworth runner has won a regional meet. Whitworth's women took fifth place on Saturday.

Complete results (click here).

Nick Gallagher

Gallagher led for most of the race until Francis Reynolds of Puget Sound went past him at the four-mile mark. But Gallagher stayed on Reynold's heels and was able to slip back ahead of Reynolds at the wire, finishing the eight kilometer race in 25:01.25, ahead of Reynold's time of 25:01.43.

Dusty Caseria (Jr., Bellingham, Wash.) took seventh in 25:23.13 and Aaron Jenkins (Fr., Pocatello, Idaho) was eighth in 25:25.46, giving Whitworth three runners among the top ten finishers.

Emmanuel Bofa (So., Puyallup, Wash.) crossed in 20th place (25:42.24) and Tyler Dudley (Fr., Salem, Ore.) ran in 31st, giving all five Whitworth scorers All-West Region honors (top 35 finish).

The final men's team scores were: Whitworth 67, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 83, Willamette 87, Occidental 93, Pomona-Pitzer 134, Lewis & Clark 146, Colorado College 173, Linfield 223, Puget Sound 259, Redlands 263, Whitman 269, Cal Lutheran 328, George Fox 368, Caltech 398, Pacific (Ore.) 425.

Katie Williams

Maddie Coffman of Willamette won the women's race with a time of 21:26.99 over six kilometers. The final women's team scores were: Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 88, Pomona-Pitzer 89, Willamette 104, Whitman 126, Whitworth 126, Linfield 178, UC Santa Cruz 191, Whittier 206, Redlands 229, Lewis & Clark 242, Occidental 251, Colorado College 285, Cal Lutheran 293, Pacific (Ore.) 343, Puget Sound 360, Caltech 466.

Whitman finished ahead of Whitworth due to a tie-breaker.

Kathryn Williams (Fr., Santiago, Chile) led the Whitworth women with a 20th place finish, running the course in 22:49.39, while Dana Misterek (Fr., Gig Harbor, Wash.) was 22nd in 22:52.63. Jo E Mayer (Jr., Spokane, Wash.) was 26th in 23:06.87, followed by Tonya Turner (Fr., Spokane, Wash.) in 28th place in 23:16.95. Jenna Cunningham (Sr., Central Point, Ore.) gave Whitworth five runners among the top-35 with a 30th place finish (23:22.61).

The only other women's team with all five scorers earning all-region honors was C-M-S. Whitworth will await word on whether or not Williams and Misterek get at-large individual bids to the NCAA Division III Championships.

The national meet will take place next Saturday at Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana.