Regionals: Vikings' Porter takes women's title, WWU qualifies both teams for nationals
Overcoming three inches of snow that fell the previous night, Western Washington University's Sarah Porter (Sr., Hockinson) had a dominating performance in winning the women's individual title by 300 meters at the 2010 NCAA Division II West Regional Cross Country Championships held Saturday at Lake Padden Park.
The Vikings placed third in both the men's and women's divisions, qualifying each for the national meet on Saturday, Dec. 4, at Louisville, Kentucky.
"Hey, we made it and we're looking forward to letting it all out in two weeks," said WWU coach Pee Wee Halsell (24th year). "Having the snow actually made the footing a lot better. It was more of a blessing than a hindrance."
Alaska Anchorage took both team titles, the men upsetting Chico State, the region's top ranked team, by five points to snap an eight-year winning streak by the Wildcats. The Seawolves won the women's crown for the second straight year.
The top four men's teams qualified for nationals. UAA won with 49 points, all five of its counters placing among the top 15 to earn West Region all-star honors. The Seawolves were led by Mark Cheseto who finished first for the second straight year. He completed the 10-kilometer course in 31:20.8.
Chico State, which had won the last eight regional titles, placed second in the 19-team field, with 54 points. Host WWU was third (93), its fourth straight top three performance at regionals, and Western Oregon fourth (125).
The Seawolves won the women's championship by 15 points, 40 to 55, over Chico State. UAA had the next three finishers behind Porter, whose time of 21:21.9 over the 6-kilometer distance was 40 seconds better than the runner-up. She placed second in 2009, third in 2008 and 13th in 2007 to become a four-time region all-star.
"I've been trying to be conservative at the start, but today I threw caution to the wind and was almost reckless," said Porter, who competed in snow and 14-degree temperatures two years ago at nationals. "I really wanted this for my team, Pee Wee and everyone who came out here today."
Six women's teams were national qualifiers in the field of 24. WWU was third (111), with Cal Poly Pomona fourth (183), Western Oregon fifth (211) and BYU Hawaii sixth (213). The Vikings were fourth in 2009 and fifth in 2008.
In the men's division, Cheseto was followed by two WWU runners, Jordan Welling (Sr., Burlington/Burlington-Edison) placed second for the second straight year (31:29.4) and Bennett Grimes (Sr., Pocatello, ID/Century) was third (31:39.7).
"I felt good about coming that close to one of the best runners in the nation," said Welling.
Bennett Grimes and Jordan Welling
Blake Medhaug (Sr., Bothell) also earned all-region honors for the Vikings, finishing 13th (32:19.8). Completing WWU's counters were Nick Abraham (Jr., Sammamish/Skyline), 35th (33:29.4), and Chip Jackson (R-Fr., Shoreline/Shorewood), 40th (33:34.8).
In the women's division, WWU's Lauren Breihof (Jr., Vancouver/Mountain View) earned all-region honors by finishing sixth (22:51.7). Other Viking counters were Sierra Brisky (Jr., Acme/Mount Baker), 30th (24:08.7); Jessica Boyer (Sr., Columbia Falls, MT), 33rd (24:16.1); and Lacey Nation (So., Lakewood), 41st (24:20.9).
It is the fourth time in 12 years that WWU has hosted the meet, the others being 1998, 2001 and 2004.
