Nov. 21, 2009

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Western Washington University enjoyed the finest cross country day in school history as the men's team placed fourth and the women's squad eighth with Sarah Porter (Jr., Hockinson) second individually at the NCAA Division II National Championships held Saturday on the campus course of host University of Southern Indiana.

"I knew they could do it and then for it to happen was truly amazing," said Pee Wee Halsell, who is completing his 23rd season as Western's coach.

The respective finishes were the Vikings' best since becoming an NCAA member in 1998, and the men's finest overall. Both teams were 10th last year. In 1992, the Western women placed fourth and the men sixth at the NAIA National Championships.

"The competition here was much deeper and the course much tougher," said Halsell. "This is definitely the best men's team we've had and the women's squad would compare very favorably with that 1992 team."

Porter's second-place finish was the best by any cross country runner in school history. She ran the 6-kilometer course in 20:30.1, less than seven seconds behind Seattle Pacific's Jessica Pixler, who won her third national title with a clocking of 20:22.6.

"Sarah's strategy was not to go out with the leaders and expend too much energy," Halsell said. "At the halfway mark, she went out and really started dropping people and she was really pulling on Pixler at the end."

Porter finished over 13 seconds ahead of third-place Ashley Siler from Missouri Southern.

Adams State NM, the team champion in both the men's and women's competition, finished with 23 points in the men's division. Western State CO was second (86), Colorado Mines third (153) and the Vikings fourth (170), 15 points ahead of fifth-place Grand Valley State MI.

Western was paced by Jordan Welling (Jr., Burlington/Burlington-Edison), who finished 13th, completing the 10-kilometer course in 31:44.6.

"Jordan got up that first hill and then at the halfway mark started picking people off," Halsell said. "He had a very strong second half."

The Vikings' Anthony Tomsich (Sr., Fairbanks, AK/West Valley) placed 45th (32:44.7), Eric Brill (So., Kent/Kentwood) 52nd (32:48.6), Bennett Grimes (Jr., Pocatello, ID/Century) 56th (32:53.7), Blake Medhaug (Jr., Bothell) 61st (32:59.9), Greg Kubitz (Sr., Kelso) 79th (33:18.0) and Yonas Berhe (So., Seattle/Roosevelt) 97th (33:41.5).

"To have all seven men finish in the top 100 is an amazing feat," Halsell said. "Brill had an incredible race, to move up from being our fifth runner most of the season to third was outstanding."

The Western women finished with 300 points. Adams State's winning total was 73. Three other West Region teams placed in the top 10, Seattle Pacific being fourth (151), Alaska Anchorage fifth (158) and Chico State sixth (172).

The Vikings were six points ahead of ninth-place Western State.

Porter's runner-up finish was three places better than the previous Western best of fifth by Jane Abbott at the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women national meet in 1980. The next highest placing was seventh by Paul Kezes in the men's 2002 NCAA II meet.

The Vikings' Lauren Breihof (So., Vancouver/Mountain View) was 31st in 21:48.7 and Courtney Olsen (Sr., Bellingham/Squalicum) was 65th in 22:30.2.

Western's Kirsten Moore (Fr., Carlsbad, CA) was 112th (23:13.1), Sierra Brisky (So., Acme/Mount Baker) 153rd (24:02.0), Danielle Slaughter (Sr., Spokane/Shadle Park) 166th (24:31.7) and Emily Wallen (Fr., Olympia/Capital) 181st (26:09.4).

Porter, Breihof and Welling earned U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-America honors by placing among the top 40. It is the second award for both Porter and Welling. Porter finished 13th last year, and Welling was 29th.

Western entered the meet with the men ranked sixth nationally and women 11th in the latest USTFCCCA/NCAA II Top 25.

Nov. 21 (Sat.) NCAA Division II National Championships - Evansville, Ind. (University of Southern Indiana)

MEN

TEAM RESULTS (10K) - 1. Adams State 23, 2. Western State 86, 3. Colorado Mines 153, 4. Western Washington 170, 5. Grand Valley State 185, 6. Southern Indiana 228, 7. Queens NC 256, 8. Chico State 284, 9. Harding 296, 10. Augustana SD 313, 11. Missouri Southern 319, 12. Edinboro 338, 13. Shippensburg 352, 14. Metropolitan State 369, 15. Southwest Baptist 395, 16. UMass Lowell 396, 17. Alaska Anchorage 415, 18. Pittsburg State 416, 19. Columbus State 419, 20. Saginaw Valley 428, 21. Stonehill 474, 22. Florida Southern 598, 23. Nova Southeastern 613, 24. Mars Hill 644.

TOP 15 - 1. Reuben Mwei, Adams State, 30:27.8; 2. Daniel Kirwa, Harding, 30:28.2; 3. Glarius Rop, American International, 30:32.4; 4. Amos Sang, Abilene Christian, 30:48.0; 5. Aaron Braun, Adams State, 31:08.2; 6. Brian Medigovich, Adams State, 31:12.6; 7. Oscar Ogwaro, Queens NC, 31:18.0; 8. Nicaise Kazingo, New Mexico Highlands, 31:19.7; 9. Meshack Koyiaki, Columbus State, 31:22.7; 10. Anthony Gauthier, Adams State, 31:28.4; 11. Luke Cragg, Adams State, 31:38.2; 12. Iain Donnan, Western State 31:41.7; 13. Jordan Welling, Western Washington, 31:44.6; 14. Tyler Emmorey, Grand Valley State, 31:45.8; 15. Jimmy Elam, Chico State, 31:47.3.

WWU INDIVIDUAL RESULTS - 13. Jordan Welling 31:44.6, 45. Anthony Tomsich 32:44.7, 52. Eric Brill 32:48.6, 56. Bennett Grimes 32:53.7, 61. Blake Medhaug 32:59.0, 79. Greg Kubitz 33:18.0, 97. Yonas Berhe 33:41.5.

WOMEN

TEAM RESULTS (6K) - 1. Adams State 73, 2. Grand Valley State 81, 3. Missouri Southern 104, 4. Seattle Pacific 151, 5. Alaska Anchorage 158, 6. Chico State 172, 7. Minnesota-Duluth 294, 8. Western Washington 300, 9. Western State 306, 10. Tampa 308, 11. Ferris State 314, 12. Southern Indiana 322, 13. Augustana SD 350, 14. Kutztown 355, 15. Shippensburg 357, 16. Stonehill 367, 17. Bloomsburg 391, 18. Mary 413, 19. Harding 441, 20. Queens NC 467, 21. Metropolitan State 490, 22. Dallas Baptist 526, 23. UMass Lowell 587, 24. Columbus State 603

TOP 15 - 1. Jessica Pixler, Seattle Pacific, 20:22.6; 2. Sarah Porter, Western Washington, 20:30.1; 3. Ashley Siler, Missouri Southern, 20:43.6; 4. Kimi Shank, Missouri Southern, 20:44.5; 5. Mary Ballinger, Southern Indiana, 20:45.9; 6. Morgan Place, Minnesota-Duluth, 20:53.0; 7. Vivien Wadeck, Cal State L.A., 21:02.8; 8. Priscilla Jennings, Millersville, 21:05.8; 9. Alicia Nelson, Adams State, 21:07.8; 10. Sydney Laws, Colorado Mines, 21:08.6; 11. Jennifer Harpp, Slippery Rock, 21:09.5; 12. Christina Muir, Ferris State, 21:11.0; 13. Vanessa Roy, Adams State, 21:12.3; 14. Miriam Kipng'eno, Alaska Anchorage, 21:16.7; 15. Katherine McCarthy, Grand Valley State, 21:18.0

WWU INDIVIDUAL RESULTS - 2. Sarah Porter 20:30.1, 31. Lauren Breihof 21:48.7, 65. Courtney Olsen 22:30.2, 112. Kirsten Moore 23:13.1, 153. Sierra Brisky 24:02.0; 166. Danielle Slaughter 24:31.7, 181. Emily Wallen 26:09.4.