Complete results (PDF)

BELLINGHAM – Senior Jacob Wahlenmaier set the pace for the Seattle Pacific on Saturday, finishing 67th overall and leading the Falcons to a 12th-place team finish in the NCAA Division II West Regional cross country meet at East Lake Padden Park.

Wahlenmaier (Everett, Wash./Cascade HS) clocked 34 minutes, 48.5 seconds for his run around the 10-kilometer layout.

SPU totaled 372 points. Alaska Anchorage, which won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title two weeks ago in Yakima, won with 48, edging runner-up Chico State by five.

In the women's race, Falcon freshman Alli Cutting ran to a top-20 finish, and junior Natty Plunkett was 27th on Saturday, helping the Seattle Pacific women take 12th place.

Cutting (Sequim, Wash./Sequim HS) finished her 6-kilometer run at East Lake Padden Park in 23 minutes, 52.8 seconds, taking 20th overall on the course that was covered by up to three inches of snow in places. Plunkett (Bellevue, Wash./Newport HS) clocked 24:00.7.

SPU totaled 314 points in its season finale. Alaska Anchorage won with 40.

Wahlenmaier was in front of the Seattle Pacific men's pack for the second straight postseason meet. And, as has been the case most of the season, that pack was bunched tight, as all five scorers finished with 33 seconds and 15 places of each other.

Junior Nate Sleight (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) was the No. 2 Falcon, taking 70th in 34:52.5. Then it was a sophomore trio of Andrew Van Ness (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS), Will Harrison (Tucson, Ariz.) and AJ Baker (AuGres, Mich) going 80-81-82, just seven seconds apart.

“I think the men raced even better today that at conference,” interim head coach Letiwe Patton said in comparing Saturday's finish with Seattle Pacific's sixth-place performance at GNACs two weeks ago. “I think they all pulled it together as a group.

Cutting made a nice comeback from the GNAC Championships two weeks ago in Yakima, when she fell during the middle of the race and wound up 35th.

“It was a great race. I haven't felt this good since Sundodger (in mid September),” Cutting said. “In between then and now, I just haven't been able to get in the right groove. I just felt like I was fighting it a little bit.

“I definitely wanted to make it to nationals,” added Cutting, who ultimately would have needed a top-10 finish to make it. “But what I wanted most was just to have a good race and just be able to leave everything out on the course. I felt like I did that today. I'm so thankful that we got the chance to run at regionals. That was a huge blessing just to be able to have one more chance.”

Seattle Pacific, hoping to slip into one of the top six spots that would have qualified the team for a return trip to nationals, got off to a solid start with Cutting and Plunkett both among the top 30. But from there, it was more than a full minute back to the rest of the pack. Freshman McKayla Fricker (Canby, Ore.), a track standout who joined the cross country team at midseason was the third Falcon across the line, taking 76th place in 25:08.4.

“It was unfortunate that things didn't work out for any of our girls or our team to make it to nationals,” Patton said. “But it was a very good experience for the group. We have a very young team, and racing at regionals was a real eye-opener for what will happen next year.

“We have lots of work to do on both sides,” she added. “They'll have a lot more opportunities out there when the indoor and outdoor (track) seasons get under way.”


NCAA MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Division II West Regional Championships
Saturday, November 20, 2010
10 kilometers at East Lake Padden Park/Bellingham, Wash.

Team standings (top 4 to nationals) -- 1, Alaska Anchorage 49; 2, Chico State 54; 3, Western Washington 93; 4, Western Oregon 125; 5, Cal Poly Pomona 157; 6, Humboldt State 182; 7, Northwest Nazarene 206; 8, UC San Diego 227; 9, Brigham Young-Hawaii 251; 10, San Francisco State 294; 11, Saint Martin's 302; 12, Seattle Pacific 372; 13, Montana State Billings 399; 14, Grand Canyon 401; 15, Hawaii Pacific 422; 16, Central Washington 438; 17, Alaska Fairbanks 486; 18, Dixie State 563; 19, Cal State Monterey Bay 614; Hawaii Hilo, Chaminade, and Cal State San Bernardino incomplete.
Top 5 – 1, Marko Cheseto (UAA) 31:20.8; 2, Jordan Welling (WWU) 31:29.4; 3, Bennett Grimes (WWU) 31:39.7; 4, Isaac Chavez (Chico) 31:44.9; 5, Brent Handa (Chico) 31:52.7. SPU placers – 67, Jacob Wahlenmaier 34:48.5; 70, Nate Sleight 34:52.5; 80, Andrew Van Ness 35:14.0; 81, Will Harrison 35:20.0; 82, AJ Baker 35:21.0; 85, Evan Bradford 35:24.3; 89, Daniel Hamilton 35:42.8.


NCAA WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Division II West Regional Championships
Saturday, November 20, 2010
6 kilometers at East Lake Padden Park/Bellingham, Wash.

Team scores (top 6 to nationals) – 1, Alaska Anchorage 40; 2, Chico State 55; 3, Western Washington 111; 4, Cal Poly Pomona 183; 5, Brigham Young-Hawaii 211; 6, Western Oregon 248; 7, Northwest Nazarene 273; 8, Cal State Stanislaus 274; 9, Montana State Billings 281; 10, Cal State San Bernardino 298; 11, San Francisco State 306; 12, Seattle Pacific 311; 13, Hawaii Pacific 319; 14, UC San Diego 332; 15, Cal State Los Angeles 364; 16, Humboldt State 378; 17, Saint Martin's 451; 18, Central Washington 479; 19, Alaska Fairbanks 481; 20, Sonoma State 485; 21, Cal State Dominguez Hills 517; 22, Cal State Monterey Bay 657; 23, Grand Canyon 700; 24, Dixie State 729; Chaminade and Hawaii Hilo incomplete.
Top 5 – 1, Sarah Porter (WWU) 21:21.9; 2, Ruth Keino (UAA) 22:01.2; 3, Miriam Kipng'eno (UAA) 22:09.2; 4, Shoshana Keegan (UAA) 22:43.9; 5, Jaclyn Puga (NNU) 22:51.2. SPU placers – 20, Alli Cutting 23:52.8; 27, Natty Plunkett 24:00.7; 76, McKayla Fricker 25:08.0; 92, Krysta Carrick 25:31.8; 101, Josie Becker 25:41.0; 116, Megan Knape 26:13.5; 131, Laura Moser 26:50.2.