Complete team and individual results

KAHUKU, Hawaii – Earlier in the week, Katie Thralls said she didn't want the cross country season to end yet. Seattle Pacific head coach Erika Daligcon replied that she didn't want it to end yet, either.
 
After their performance on Saturday, Thralls and her Falcon teammates will be racing one more time this fall:
 
At nationals.
 
Thralls ran to 11^th place, and freshman Katie Morris was 26th, leading the Falcons to fifth as a team at the NCAA Division II West Regionals on Kahuku Golf Course.
 
SPU finished with 157 points, beating out Great Northwest Athletic Conferenc stablemate Simon Fraser's 179 for the final qualifying berth. At the GNAC Championships two weeks ago at Western Oregon, the Clan took second place with 61 points, 43 ahead of third place Seattle Pacific's 104.
 
Chico State won easily with 21 points Defending champion Alaska Anchorage was second with 61. Humboldt State was third with 73, and Cal State Stanislaus took fourth with 84.
 
The NCAAs are set for Saturday, Nov. 17, at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin. This will be the first trip to nationals for the Falcons since 2009.
 
“I knew we could do it. And it's especially fun to beat Simon Fraser, said Thralls (Livermore, Calif.), a senior out for her first season season of cross country. “We had been looking at the times and preparing for that. Our coaches had us looking for those jerseys to get in front of them. We all took the challenge and went for it.”
 
Added Daligcon, “They've been willing to put in that work, and they've been there for each other. There's something really special about this team, and that speaks to the outcome today.
 
“Once we get to nationals, if history repeats itself, we tend to do well there.”
 
Indeed, the Falcons finished fourth at the 2009 nationals in Evansville, Ind. That was the last of their three consecutive team trophies.
 
A senior in her first year of cross country, Thralls (Livermore, Calif.) finished the 6-kilometer course in 22 minutes, 8 seconds. Among the 10 runners ahead of her was GNAC champion Susan Tanui of Alaska Anchorage, who added the regional crown to her collection with a time of 21:18.50. The 11th-place finish made Thralls an all-region selection.
 
Thralls runs aggressively from the start, and Saturday was no different. She immediately found herself among the leaders – and then found herself staying with them.
                                               
“I was not expecting that,” she said. “I was a little nervous about the first mile, finding myself near the beginning of the pack. I was wondering how it would play out. Then, I just kept running, kept feeling OK, and kept going.
 
“I was pretty surprised I wasn't getting passed,” Thralls added. “But I was like, 'Well, I'm not going to slow down.' I felt really focused, and I didn't notice the heat (temperatures were in the 70s.) I didn't think about the heat the whole time, and that really helped.”
 
At the GNAC Championships two weeks ago in Monmouth, Ore., Thralls trailed eight Alaska Anchorage runners (teams can race 10 at conference). On Saturday, only two were in front of her.
 
“She's a true competitor, and that showed through,” Daligcon said. “She wanted it and was very focused through the warm-up and the start, and was hanging off of that front pack.”
 
The first four Falcon finishers were bunched tightly together, and that was the key to securing the trip to Missouri. Morris (Spokane, Wash. / Shadle Park HS) clocked 22:43.40 for 26th place; sophomore Robyn Zeidler (Plymouth, Minn.) was right behind in 22:43.90 for 27th; and junior McKayla Fricker (Canby, Ore.) was 36th in 22:59.34. Sophomore Jasmine Johnson (Federal Way, Wash. / Federal Way HS) completed the scoring by crossing 63rd in 23:29.31.

 
NCAA WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Division II West Regionals
Saturday, November 3, 2012
6 kilometers at Kahuku Golf Course / Kahuku, Hawaii
 
Team scores (top 5 to nationals) – 1, Chico State 51; 2, Alaska Anchorage 56; 3, Humboldt State 120; 4, Cal State Stanislaus 154; 5, Seattle Pacific 157; 6, Simon Fraser 179; 7, Western Washington 274; 8, Cal Poly Pomona 279; 9, San Francisco State 284; 10, Central Washington 335; 11, Cal State San Bernardino 381; 12, UC San Diego 384; 13, Dixie State 384; 14, Northwest Nazarene 390; 15, Brigham Young-Hawaii 412; 16, Cal State Los Angeles 423; 17, Grand Canyon 425; 18, Montana State Billings 435; 19, Hawaii Pacific 438; 20, Alaska Fairbanks 463; 21, Sonoma State 484; 22, Western Oregon 533; 23, Cal Staet East Bay 592; 24, Chaminade 668; 25, Hawaii Hilo 777.
Top 10 --  1, Susan Tanui (UAA) 21:18.50; 2, Tiffany Dinh (Pomona) 21:25.91; 3, Ayla Granados (Chico) 21:31.70; 4, Miriam Kipng'eno (UAA) 21:38.34; 5, Bridget Berg (Humboldt) 21:41.78; 6, Jenny Bergren (Acad. Art) 21:51.76; 7, Sara Mikesell (Chico) 21:53.85; 8, Rachel Young (Dixie) 21:58.13; 9, Devon Kelsey (Humboldt) 22:03.17; 10, Lisa Ohberg (Cal St. LA) 22:04.85.
SPU placers – 11, Katie Thralls 22:07.69; 26, Katie Morris 22:43.40; 27, Robyn Zeidler 22:43.90; 36, McKayla Fricker 22:59.34; 63, Jasmine Johnson 23:29.31; 70, Anna Patti 23:41.71; 109, Lynelle Decker 24:48.80.