MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Washington University men's and women's cross country teams competed Saturday at the NCAA Division II West Regional Championships at Ash Creek Preserve.

 

The men's team raced to a 5th-place finish out of 21 schools with a team score of 147 and was the top team out of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The women's squad was 7th with a score of 180. Both teams will have to wait until Monday to see if they will receive an at-large berth to the NCAA II National Championships that will be held November 20 in Saint Leo, Florida.

 

Junior Mac Franks led all WWU runners with his 11th-place finish in the men's 10K finishing the wet and windy course in a personal-best time of 31:11.7. Freshman Jeret Gillingham finished 19th in a PR of 31:28.1. Franks and Gillingham earned All-Region honors for placing individually in the top 25. 

 

The women's team was paced by a trio of runners separated by just five spots, with senior Brittany Aquino (22:29.5) finishing 37th in the 6K. Aquino was followed closely by junior Brook Wedin (22:30.6) in 38th place and sophomore Eugenia Palko in 41st place (22:37.2).

 

"It was a good performance by both teams today, not exactly where we wanted to finish, but very proud of the effort," said WWU head coach Pee Wee Halsell. "The men went for it and just dropped back a little and I think the women went out a little slow to start. But overall some good performance and now we wait to see if they will advance. I like our chances on the men's side and crossing our fingers to get both teams to Florida."

 

The Vikings earned a top five finish in the deep regional field with a team score of 147 points for 5th place. WWU entered the meet ranked fourth in the region, but were edged out by Azusa Pacific (4th, 139) and Cal Poly Pomona (3rd, 138) in the team standings. Chico State had all five of its scoring runners finish in the top 15 to easily win the team title with 47 points. Fresno Pacific was well back in 2nd place at 109, led by individual winner Patrick Kiprop (30:12.6).

 

Junior Mac Franks (11th) and freshman Jeret Gillingham (19th) earned All-West Region honors for placing in the top 25. All five of WWU's scoring runners placed in the top 45 in the 147-runner field, with junior Alec Ritter (41st), freshman Jalen Javurek (42nd) and senior Kaleb Korta (45th) tightly bunched at the finish. 

 

Here is a look at the team standings from the 2021 NCAA Division II West Regional Championships, with WWU placing 5th for the third consecutive championship:

 

 

Here is a look at the individual performances by the WWU men at the West Regional Championships, with Franks and Gillingham earning All-Region honors for placing in the top 25:

 

 

The WWU women matched its pre-championship regional ranking placing 7th out of 24 teams with a team score of 180. The Vikings narrowly missed out on a top five finish with Biola placing 5th (175) and Cal State San Marcos 6th (179).

 

Senior Brittany Aquino (22:29.5) and junior Brook Wedin (22:30.6) were separated by just over a second to place 37th and 38th to lead the Vikings.

 

All five of WWU's scoring runners placed in the top 50 in the 169-runner field, with Eugenia Palko (41st, 22:37.2), Mia Crocker (49th, 22:45.6) and Ila Davis (50th, 22:46.2) recording solid individual performances.

 

The Vikings solid team effort resulted in the top five finishers separated by just 16 seconds.

 

Simon Fraser won the team title with 75 points to edge out 2nd-place Stanislaus State with 91 points and 3rd-place Chico State (110). The top three teams received an automatic berth to the NCAA II National Championships. Kaela Dillon of Stanislaus State won the individual regional title completing the 6K course in 21:14.4. SFU's Oliva Willett was runner-up in 21:19.7.

 

Here is a look at the team standings from the 2021 NCAA West Regional Championships 6K, with the Vikings placing 7th for the second consecutive season. WWU qualified for the NCAA II National Championships when they placed 7th at regionals in 2019.

 

 

Here is a look at the individual performances by the WWU women at the NCAA West Regional Championships:

 

 

WWU will find out if they are one of 10 at-large teams selected to compete at the national championships, with the NCAA making its announcement on Monday around 2 pm PT. A total of 34 teams will compete for the national title November 20 in Saint Leo, Florida, with 24 teams decided by the top three finishers in each of the eight regions. A complicated formula will decide the 10 at-large teams.

 

Both WWU teams have made consecutive trips to the NCAA Championships, traveling to Pittsburgh in 2018 (Women: 20th, Men: 26th) and 2019 in Sacramento (Women: 17th, Men: 22nd).

 

Fans can follow WWU Cross Country online at WWUVikings.com/XC, and via social media on Twitter (@WWUTFXC), Instagram (@WWUTFXC) and Facebook (@WWUTFXC).