CLAREMONT, Calif. – On Saturday morning the best cross country runners from 21 teams will line up for the NCAA Division III West Regionals hosted by Pomona-Pitzer. Both the Kingsmen and Regals will send a squad to the meet.
Entering the event the CLU women’s team, led by Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) champion and Runner of the Year Melissa Skiba, is ranked No. 5 in the Region and will vie for a team spot at the NCAA Division III Women’s Cross Country National Championships in Hanover, Ind. scheduled for Nov. 23.
Also running for the Regals will be All-SCIAC First and Second Team members, Ashley Frese and Natalie Bullock, respectively. Rounding out the roster will be a selection of four from the following five runners of Jess Infald, Amanda Miller, Sarah Parsons, Chantal White and Taelor Young.
Though the 6K course has slightly changed since the Regals ran at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational last season, expect Skiba to be back at the front of the pack. In the race on Sept. 29, 2012 the senior harrier placed first among D-III participants in a time of 22:01.60.
Representing the Cal Lutheran men’s team will be Dominick Allen, David Avila, Garrett Baker, Matt Garvin, Shawn Jackson, Ryan Perez and Daniel Tustin.
Earlier this fall the Kingsmen and Regals missed out on an opportunity to preview the course due to travel arrangement issues.
Currently headlining the women’s regional rankings is SCIAC champion and nationally ranked No. 8 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, followed by No. 28 Willamette of the Northwest Conference (NWC), Whitworth (NWC), Occidental and Cal Lutheran.
On the men’s side, Willamette is ranked No. 23 in the nation out of the NWC ahead of No. 28 CMS, host No. 35 Pomona-Pitzer, Puget Sound (NWC) and UC Santa Cruz (Independent).
For each gender the top two teams automatically qualify to compete at Nationals and the next seven runners (not affiliated with either team advancing) across the line also punch plane tickets.
The men’s race will kick off the day at 9:00 a.m. followed by the women’s race at 10:15 a.m. Both will have Live Stats and Live Video, though the quality may vary based on the wireless network connection, available.
Tournament Central: 2013 NCAA Division III West Regional
Course Map: 2013 NCAA Division III West Regional Course Maps
Live Stats: 2013 NCAA Division III West Regional Results
Live Video: 2013 NCAA Division III West Regional Video Stream
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