MONMOUTH, Ore. – Better than ever and faster than ever just wasn't quite enough for Annika Esvelt.
 
The Seattle Pacific junior ran to a 20th-place finish at the NCAA Division II West Regional cross country meet, completing 6 kilometers on Western Oregon University's Ash Creek Preserve course in 21 minutes 35.1 seconds.
 
 

That was way quicker than Esvelt's previous personal best on the Ash Creek course. She ran 22:07.4 in the 2021 West Regionals. She was also on this course for the 2022 Great Northwest Athletic Conference meet, and finished in 22:14.5.
 
Even with her speedy performance, it left Esvelt outside of the top five, which would have guaranteed a trip to the NCAA nationals on Nov. 18 in Joplin, Missouri.
 
The Falcons finished 14th in the team standings with 365 points. Western Washington, winner of the GNAC title two weeks ago in Anchorage, took the top spot with 75.
 
Esvelt was among the leaders at the 2K mark with a group of her conference counterparts. She, along with Western Washington's Ashley Reeck and Ila Davis, and Rosie Fordham of Alaska Fairbanks, were all in 6:43 range.
 
This was Esvelt's highest West Region finish, and earned her second All-Region award. She was 22nd in the 2021 meet.
 
"It was a little rough out there. She woke up feeling a little under the weather this morning, but still put herself in the mix," SPU assistant coach / distance coach Eric Hansen said. "She was looking great through 4K. Then the pack made a hard push at 4K, and she didn't quite have it today. But we're definitely still proud of her and all the progress she's made this season."
 
Sophomore Matise Mulch was second across the finish line for SPU, placing 70th in 22:47.4. Sophomore Maya Ewing (80th), freshman Anna Prussian (88th) and sophomore Katelyn Flolo (124th) completed Seattle Pacific's scoring.
 
 

"We had some good individual performances today," Hansen said. "Katelyn ran with I think more confidence than she has run with all season, which was very nice to see. There were four teams within a few points of each other (Anchorage 358, San Marcos 364, SPU 365, Cal State Monterey Bay 366), and it's hard not to look at that that and not think we could have gotten one more somewhere. So hopefully next time, we're on the opposite side of that."
 
Kendall Kramer of Fairbanks followed up her GNAC title with a regional crown, stopping the watch in 20:29.8
 
LeBLANC UP FRONT FOR SPU MEN
Brennan LeBlanc set a cross country 10-kilometer personal best time, finishing 61st for Seattle Pacific in the men's West Regional race.
 
 

The senior came across the line in 32 minutes, 23.4 seconds. That was just below the 32:23.7 that he clock at last year's regional meet in Billing.
 
Seattle Pacific finished 21st as a team with 515 points.
 
In his first regional race, Silas Demmert was the No. 2 scorer for the Falcons, placing 84th in 33:03.2.
 
Sophomore Isaac Venable (102nd), freshman Jonathan Lieb (132nd), and sophomore Gabe Endresen (142nd) completed the scoring.
 
Meet favorite Chico State won with 47 points. Central Washington senior Johan Correa moved up steadily throughout the race and took the individual title in 30:42.1.
 
"Brennan executed his best race plan that he has so far, which was good," Hansen said. 'Silas was definitely a bright spot for us. He averaged four seconds off his high school best for back-to-back 5Ks, and you can't ask a freshman for any more than that."
 
UP NEXT
With the cross country season now complete, the Falcons will turn their attention to indoor track. The opener is the Spokane Invitational on Saturday, Dec. 9, at The Podium. Field events start at 9:00 a.m., and the first race on the track is at 10:00 a.m.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
NCAA Division II West Regionals
Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023
Ash Creek Preserve / Monmouth, Ore.
 
Team scores (top 3 to NCAA nationals) – 1, Western Washington 75; 2, Biola 86; 3, Chico State 132; 4, Concordia Irvine 132 (Chico State gets higher place on tiebreaker) 5, Alaska Fairbanks 135; 6, Cal Poly Pomona 182; 7, Saint Martin's 220; 8, Simo Fraser 221; 9, Stanislaus State 231; 10 Azusa Pacific 258; 11, Point Loma Nazarene 315; 12, Alaska Anchorage 358; 13, Cal State San Marcos 364; 14, Seattle Pacific 365; 15, Cal State Monterey Bay 366; 16, Fresno Pacific 395; 17, Sonoma State 418; 18, Western Oregon 427; 19, Cal State East Bay469; 20, Cal State San Bernardino 521; 21, San Francisco State 628; 22, Montana State Billings 636; 23, Central Washington 671; 24, Chaminade 762.
 
Top 10 – 1, KendalL Kramer 20:29.8; 2, Susanne Bruenig (Biola) 20:33.6; 3, Gianna Bomarito (Sonoma) 20:50.3; 4, Dalla Molina (Chico) 20:54.2; 5, Ashley Reeck (WWU) 20:54.6; 6, Rosie Fordham (UAF) 20:57.3; 7, Cassidy Wolchak-Sloan (Saint Martin's) 21:00.9; 8, Bethany Mapes (Biola) 21:05.9; 9, Poishe Eismann (CUI) 21:09.9; 10, Jori Paradis (CUI) 21:15.5.
 
SPU – 20, Annika Esvelt 21:35.1; 70, Matise Mulch 22:47.4; 80, Maya Ewing 23:06.0; 88, Anna Prussian 23:26.9; 124, Katelyn Flolo 24:11.0; 148, Nicki Yorges 25:23.3.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
NCAA Division II West Regionals
Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023
10 kilometers at Ash Creek Preserve / Monmouth, Ore.
 
Team scores (top 3 to NCAA nationals) – 1, Chico State 47; 2, Azusa Pacific 61; 3 Cal Poly Pomona 77; 4, Western Washington 79; 5, Alaska Anchorage 197; 6, Concordia Irvine 236; 7, Biola 253; 8, Stanislaus State 261; 9, Simon Fraser 293; 10, Fresno Pacific 310; 11, Cal State San Marcos 339; 12, Cal State East Bay 342; 13, Cal State Monterey Bay 362; 14, Central Washington 380; 15, Cal Poly Humboldt 415; 16, Northwest Nazarene 438; 17, Western Oregon 442; 18, Dominican 443; 19, Saint MARTIN'S 473; 20, San Francisco State 481; 21, Seattle Pacific 515; 22, Alaska Fairbanks 546; 23, Cal State Los Angeles 718.
 
Top 10 – 1, Johan Correa (CWU) 30:42.1; 2, Juan Diego Castro (APU) 30:44.0; 3, Andrew Oslin (WWU) 30:49.2; 4, Brayden McLaughlin (Cico) 30:51.0; 5, Dyhlan White Cico) 30:52.2; 6, Riley Burns (APU) 30:544; 7, Daniel Hernandez (Chico) 30:54.7; 8, Leandro Candray (CPP) 30:55.4; 9, Ryan Clough (WWU) 30:56.5; 10, Nixon Corir (APU) 30:57.7.
 
SPU – 61, Brennan LeBlanc 32:23.4; 84, Silas Demmert 33:03.2; 102, Isaac Venable 33:22.2; 132; Jonathan Lieb 34:57.4; 142, Gabe Endresen 35:24.3; 147, Nathaniel Gale 36:16.3.
MEN:   https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/227488/results/942093