Press Release
10/27 - NWC CHAMPIONSHIPS: Willamette Again Lays Claim to Northwest Conference Crowns
NWC Championship Results (M)
NWC Championship Results (W)
BROOKS, Ore. - For the sixth year in a row, the Willamette University women have claimed the Northwest Conference cross country crown, while the Bearcat men's team captured its seventh consecutive NWC title with their victories in the 2007 NWC Championships, hosted by George Fox University, Saturday here at Willamette Mission State Park.
Women's 6K
The 7th-ranked Willamette women their seventh overall NWC championship with 39 points, taking a comfortable win over the University of Puget Sound, which had 58 points. Lewis & Clark College took third with 121 points, followed by Whitman College fourth with 131, Whitworth University and Pacific Lutheran University in a tie for fifth with 140, Linfield College seventh with 143, host George Fox eighth with 184, and Pacific University ninth with 222.
Sarah Zerzan successfully defended her 2006 individual title against 79 other runners with a time of 20:36.01, just short of the NWC 6K record she set last year of 20:32.66 at the Pacific Lutheran golf course in Tacoma, Wash. Zerzan bested teammate Maddie Coffman, who ran a 21:05.80, by almost half a minute. Amanda Phillips of Lewis & Clark took third in 21:13.77.
Those three, along with the next four runners - Brittany Hodgson, Emily Timmer, and Kenna Patrick of Puget Sound, and Tamma Carleton of Lewis & Clark - earned All-Conference First Team honors. The eighth through 14th runners were All-NWC Second Team: Kelsey Owens of Pacific, Jena Winger of Willamette, Jo E. Mayer of Whitworth, Marci Klimek and Casey Stepan of Linfield, and Carly Killam and Ashley Sharratt of Willamette.
Coach Matt McGuirk of Willamette was voted by his peers as NWC Women's Coach of the Year.
The best effort for host George Fox came from Rachel Giffey-Brohaugh, who was 25th overall and 23rd for team scoring with a time of 23:14.16. Other counting Bruins were Anna McLain in 23:18.50 (29th/27th), Lisa Mensonides in 23:44.38 (44th/41st), Bethany Adams in 24:02.28 (49th/45th), and Sarah Curry in 24:18.68 (55th/48th).
Men's 8K
Capturing the top three places and with five runners in the top nine, 5th-ranked Willamette breezed to its 17th conference men's championship with 21 points, the best NWC score since the 1979 Bearcat team won with 16 points. Runner-up Linfield came in with 70 points, followed by Whitworth in third with 83, Puget Sound fourth with 85, host George Fox fifth with 126, Whitman sixth with 153, Lewis & Clark seventh with 183, Pacific Lutheran eighth with 251, and Pacific ninth with 272.
Willamette's Tristan Knutson-Lombardo ran a 25:00.34 to supplant teammate Ian Batch as the men's champion. Batch was second in 25:08.70, with Taylor Roholt in 25:17.90 making it the story of the three Bearcats. Nicholas Gallagher of Whitworth was fourth, Francis Reynolds of Puget Sound fifth, Josh Clough of Willamette sixth, and Harrison Wilson of Linfield seventh, rounding out the All-Conference First Team.
Second Team All-NWC members, finishing eighth through 14th, were Shawn Pollard of Linfield, Lucas May and Lucas Nebert of Willamette, Dusty Caseria of Whitworth, Trevor Hanlin of Puget Sound, Shawn Fisher of Linfield, and Kyle Kotaich of Willamette.
Willamette's McGuirk completed a sweep of Coach of the Year honors when he was voted the top men's mentor as well.
Cam Eberhart, Grant Finney, and Jordan Ware led the way for the host Bruins, Eberhart taking 19th overall and 17th for team scoring with a mark of 26:08.63, Finney finishing 21st overall and 19th for scoring with a 26:15.97, and Ware taking 23rd/21st in 26:22.91. Also counting for George Fox were Paul Rapet in 26:51.21 (33rd/30th) and Bradley Higgins in 27:29.76 (45th/39th).
This was the first year for George Fox to run races at Willamette Mission after several years at Champoeg State Heritage Area, so the NWC event was only the second one ever held here. As a result, the times for Zerzan and Knutson-Lombardo were new course records.
The next event for all conference teams is the NCAA Division III West Regional Championships on Saturday, Nov. 10, at McIver State Park in Estacada, Ore.