Senior Matthew Day finished in 21st place at the NAIA Men’s Cross Country National Championship in Fort Vancouver, Wash. to become an NAIA All-American. There were 309 finishers in the men’s 8,000-meter race. Day completed the course in a time of 25:09.
He is the sixth man in Westmont history to earn honor. The last recipient was Aaron Megazzi in 2005. Neal Meador was named an All-American in 1996 and Matt Nealon won the award in both 1994 and 1995. Jim Knox was a 1986 All-American. Dennis Savage is a three-time All-American, claiming the honor in 1966, 1967 and 1968.
“Matt was very focused and determined,” said Westmont head coach Russell Smelley. “He decided he was going to be an All-American before the race, which is a good place to be if you don’t put too much pressure on yourself.
“At the start of the race, there is a big tree in the middle of the course. From the gun he cut through traffic and made a beeline for the right side of the tree. He broke in the top 25 and stayed there the whole race. He secured twenty-first place in the last half mile.”
The Westmont women’s cross country team finished in 18th place in the team competition with a total of 467 points. Jessica Meyers finished first for the Warriors in the 5,000 meter race, crossing the finish line in 71st place in a time of 19:10.
“Jessica’s performance was comparable to the conference meet, relative to the others who finished ahead of her,” said Smelley.
Alexandria Adams crossed the finish line in 111th place in a time of 19:38, followed by Corinne Cherne in a time of 19:48 in 141st place. Piper Bain completed the course in a time of 19:52 for 147th place. Heidi Nicholls completed the Warrior’s scoring in 208th, finishing with a time of 20:20. Amber Collier posted a time of 20:29 for 223rd place and Sierra Wallen finished in 21 minutes flat in 254th place.
“The women’s team was well prepared,” said Smelley. “With a young team, there is still a matter of seasoning – the experience of handling the situation. They handled themselves pretty well, but were still a bit overwhelmed by the situation as a whole. They ran a credible race, but I think there are things they would have liked to have done better.
“The grass was long and it was a slower course because of that compared to last year,” reported Smelley. But, the course was firm. It rained a bit this morning but not during the race. Temperature was in the high 40s, low 50s – Ideal conditions for the northwest.”
Six Warriors were also named NAIA Scholar-Athletes.
The recipients from men’s cross country are Paul Anderson, a senior English major from Naperville, Ill.; Day, a religious studies major from Clayton, Calif.; Jack Rogan, a senior kinesiology major from Austin, Texas and Matthew Shiney a senior double-major in political science and business and economics from Thousand Oaks.
The women’s cross country recipients are Amber Collier, a junior kinesiology major from Riverside and her twin sister Breean Collier, a junior sociology major.
