GNAC Cross Country

Alaska Anchorage Wins West Regional Title; Pixler Earns Fourth Title


Cheseto	Pixler

Alaska Anchorage placed five runners in the top 14 and won its first-ever NCAA Division II Women's West Regional team cross country title Saturday at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.

It was a great day for GNAC athletes as the conference claimed both individual titles, five of the seven available team berths for the NCAA national meet Nov. 21 at Evansville, Indiana, and 18 of the 30 spots on the all-region team that go to the Top 15 in each race.

Seattle Pacific's Jessica Pixler won her fourth straight individual title covering the women's 6,000 meter layout in a course-record time of 20:08.9. Meanwhile, UAA's Marko Cheseto, who placed second a year ago, won the men's 10,000 meter race in a time of 30:42.5.

Hallidie Wilt led UAA to the women's team title with a score of 35. Wilt placed third in a time of 21:11.5, 29.2 seconds behind Western Washington's Sarah Porter who was second in 20:42.3.

The Seawolves, whose previous best region finish had been third (in 2004, 2005 and 2008) also got all-region performances from Ruth Keino (4th), Miriam Kipngeno (5th), Laura Carr (9th) and Shoshana Keegan (14th) in easily outdistancing defending champion Chico State, which finished second with 58 points.

Joining the Seawolves and Chico as women's national team qualifiers were Seattle Pacific (3rd) and Western Washington (4th).

Chico State, meanwhile, won its eighth straight men's team title with 42 points. Western Washington and Alaska Anchorage also qualified for the national meet with team scores of 74 and 96.

Qualifying as individuals were Chris Reed of Western Oregon and Barak Watson of Northwest Nazarene. Reed finished eighth and Watson placed 11th. Reed is the first WOU athlete and Watson is the first NNU male athlete to qualify for the NCAA Division II national meet.

In addition to Pixler, Porter and the five Alaska Anchorage athletes, Jane Larson of Seattle Pacific (7th) and Lauren Breihof of Western Washington (12th) earned women's all-region honors.

Joining Cheseto, Reed and Watson on the men's all-region team were Jordan Welling (2nd), Anthony Tomsich (7th) and Bennett Grimes (12th), all from Western Washington; Micah Chelimo (3rd) and Alfred Kangogo (10th), both from Alaska Anchorage and Mike Schmidt of Western Oregon (14th).

Men - Chico State 42, Western Washington 74, Alaska Anchorage 96, Western Oregon 105, Cal Poly Pomona 129, Humboldt State 157, Northwest Nazarene 212, CSU Stanislaus 248. UC San Diego 262, BYU-Hawaii 303, San Francisco State 314, Hawaii Pacific 324, Saint Martin's 340, Central Washington 362, Hawaii Hilo 433, MSU Billings 464, Grand Canyon 475, Notre Dame de Namur 477, Alaska Fairbanks 552, CSU Monterey Bay 579. All-Region (10,000 Meters) - 1. Marko Cheseto, UAA, 30:42.5; 2. Jordan Welling, WWU, 30:59.4; 3. Micah Chelimo, UAA, 31:05.6; 4. Brent Handa, Chico State, 31:07.8; 5. Jimmy Elam, Chico State, 31:11.4; 6. Beau Gradone-Rogers, Chico State, 31:16.4; 7. Anthony Tomsich, WWU, 31:23.7; 8. Chris Reed, WOU, 31:26.1; 9. Michael Wickman, Chico State, 31:30.9; 10. Alfred Kangogo, UAA, 31:35. 80; 11. Barak Watson, NNU, 32:39.8; 12. Bennett Grimes, WWU, 31:42.9; 13. Jersain Torres, CPP, 31:45.8; 14. Mike Schmidt, WOU, 31:46.3; 15. Andrew Sylvester, HSU, 31:50.7.

Women - Alaska Anchorage 35, Chico State 58, Seattle Pacific 75, Western Washington 121, Cal Poly Pomona 197, Northwest Nazarene 200, UC San Diego 217, Cal State L.A. 245, BYU-Hawaii 300, Western Oregon 303, Humboldt State 304, CSU Stanislaus 306, San Francisco State, 339, MSU Billings 352, Hawaii Pacific 396, Alaska Fairbanks 403, CSU San Bernardino 414, Central Washington 420, Sonoma State 490, Saint Martin's 536, Hawaii Hilo 634, CSU Dominguez Hills 641, CSU Monterey Bay 715, Grand Canyon 726, Notre Dame de Namur 753. All-Region (6,000 Meters) - 1. Jessica Pixler, SPU, 20:08.9; 2. Sarah Porter, WWU, 20:42.3; 3. Hallidie Wilt, UAA, 21:11.5; 4. Ruth Keino, UAA, 21:11.8; 5. Mariam Kipngeno, UAA, 21:17.9; 6. Tori Tyler , Chico State , 21:23.5; 7. Jane Larson, SPU, 21:28.8; 8. Julie Shaw, Chico State , 21:29.4; 9. Laura Carr, UAA, 21:30.03; 10. Vivien Wadeck, CSULA, 21:34.2; 11. Megan Rolland, Humboldt State , 21:41.5; 12. Lauren Breihof, WWU, 21:44.5; 13. Alia Gray, Chico State , 21:45.0; 14. Shoshana Keegan, UAA, 21:45.7; 15. Kara Lubieniecki, Chico State, 21:48.7.