The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics has announced the field for the National Cross Country Championships and both Westmont men’s and women’s teams will compete in the event as at-large teams. The women’s team is ranked at number 12 in the country while the men’s team is ranked number 18.
The championship races will take place on Saturday, November 19 at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Washington. The men’s 8.000 meter race is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. with the women’s 5,000 meter race projected for an 11:45 a.m. start. Both races are comprised of 32 teams plus an additional 100 qualifying individuals for the men and 105 for the women.
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The Westmont men’s team will make its sixteenth appearance in the championship race, including its sixth appearance in the last ten years. The Warriors have four top-10 finishes to their credit, including a third place finish in 1969. More recently, the Warriors placed sixth in 2006. Their last appearance as a team occurred in 2009 when they took twenty-fifth place. The men have tallied eight All-American performances since first competing in 1963.
Last season, Jake Jeanson competed as an individual, completing the race in sixty-fifth place out of 326 runners. As a junior, this will be his third time to compete at nationals.
Also competing for the Warriors men’s team will be three who earned All-Golden State Athletic Conference honors by finishing fourteenth or better in last Saturday’s GSAC Championships – Matt Organista (eighth place, 25:22), Evan Bradford (thirteenth place, 25:36) and Matt Day (fourteenth place, 25:37).
This year’s national championship race will be the eighteenth appearance for the women and the fourth in the last ten years.
Leading the charge for the Warriors this year will be senior Kate Stuart whose time of 18:08 garnered a seventh place finish at Saturday’s GSAC Championships and recognition as an All-GSAC student-athlete.
The Westmont women have placed in the top-10 on six occasions including third place finishes in both 1996 and 1997. The women have claimed 16 NAIA All-American titles over the past 28 years. The Warriors last competed as a team in 2007 when they placed seventeenth.
Last year, Chrissa Trudelle ran for the Warriors in the national championship as an individual and earned NAIA All-American honors with a twenty-ninth place finish (out of 331), completing the course in a time of 18:32.
