Press Release
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HIGHLIGHTS:
* Recent Events: Men 5th, Women 8th in NWC Championships
* Coming Up: West Regionals at McIver State Park on Nov. 10
* Eberhart Bruin Athletic Association Athlete of the Week
* Bruin Men Up to 8th in Latest USTFCCCA Regional Rankings
* Personal Marks: : Three Bruins Set New Marks in NWC Races
RECENT EVENTS: Men 5th, Women 8th in NWC Championships
* Oct. 27 - Northwest Conference Championships at Willamette Mission State Park, Brooks, Ore.
--- Men - 5th of 9 / Women - 8th of 9
Press Release / Men's Results / Women's Results
COMING UP: West Regionals at McIver State Park on Nov. 10
Sat., Nov. 10 - NCAA Division III West Regionals at McIver State Park, Estacada, Ore.
--- 11:00 a.m. - Women's 6K / 12:00 p.m. - Men's 8K
Lewis & Clark College will be the host institution for the 2007 NCAA Division III West Regional cross country races coming up Saturday, Nov. 10, at Milo McIver State Park in Estacada, Ore. The women's 6,000 meter race will be held first at 11:00 a.m., followed by the men's 8,000 meter race at 12:00 noon.
Willamette University won both titles last year and will be the favorite in both races this fall as well. The Bearcats are ranked 5th in both the men's and women's USTFCCCA national polls and 1st in the West Region. Other top contenders for the men's crown, ranked in the top five in the region, are Colorado College, Linfield College, Occidental College, and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges. Challengers for the women's championship could include the University of Puget Sound, Colorado College, Occidental, and Lewis & Clark.
The George Fox women placed 5th and the men 7th in the regionals last year. Anna McLain finished 14th in the women's race and Cam Eberhart was 31st in the men's race, both earning All-West region honors by placing in the top 35, and hope to do so again.
The top two teams in each race automatically qualify for the NCAA Division III National Championships, along with the top seven individual runners not on those teams. There will also be 16 at-large or wild-card team positions available, split among the eight D-III regions in the country. The NCAA National Championships this year are set for Saturday, Nov. 17, in Northfield, Minn., hosted by Carleton College.
THE COACHES:
Head coach John Smith (George Fox '96) is in his second year as the head coach of all George Fox track and field and cross country programs. After eight years as an assistant, he took over in the summer of 2006 upon the retirement of 19-year veteran coach Wes Cook. Smith was a two-time NAIA All-American in the decathlon for the Bruins and still holds the GFU decathlon record (7,138 points). Click here for the complete bio on Coach Smith.
One of John Smith's first acts as the new head coach of the George Fox cross country and track and field programs was to name Mike Hickey (Washington State '98) as associate head coach for cross country. Hickey, now in his second year at George Fox, was head cross country and assistant track coach at Clackmas Community College (1998-2001) and an assistant in both sports at Portland State University (2001-2005) prior to joining the Bruins. Click here for the complete bio on Coach Hickey.
BRUIN BITS:
* Eberhart Bruin Athletic Association Athlete of the Week
With a strong showing in the Northwest Conference Championship men's 8K race on Oct. 27, Cam Eberhart has been named the Bruin Athletic Association Men's Athlete of the Week for Oct. 22-28. He ran a time of 26:08.63 on the Bruins' home course at Willamette Mission State Park near Brooks, Ore., finishing 19th overall out of 74 runners and 17th for team scoring. It was his best time of the season and the second-best by a Bruin this fall. His efforts helped lift the Bruins to a 5th-place finish in the NWC Championship.
* 2007 Honors:
Paul Rapet
- Bruin Athletic Association Men's Athlete of the Week (Aug. 27-Sept. 2)
- NWC Men's Runner of the Week (HM, Aug. 27-Sept. 2)
Rachel Giffey-Brohaugh
- Bruin Athletic Association Women's Athlete of the Week (Aug. 27-Sept. 2)
- NWC Women's Runner of the Week (HM, Aug. 27-Sept. 2; HM, Sept. 10-16; HM, Sept. 17-23; HM, Sept. 24-30; HM, Oct. 8-14)
Jordan Ware
- NWC Men's Runner of the Week (HM, Sept. 10-16; HM, Sept. 17-23; HM, Sept. 24-30)
Cam Eberhart
- Bruin Athletic Association Men's Athlete of the Week (Oct. 22-28)
- NWC Men's Runner of the Week (HM, Oct. 8-14)
* Bruin Men Up to 8th in Latest USTFCCCA Regional Rankings
After finishing 5th in the Northwest Conference Championship race on Oct. 27, the George Fox men climbed one spot to 8th in the West Region in the latest rankings of NCAA Division III cross country teams by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) for Oct. 30. Willamette (5th nationally) remains atop the region, followed by Colorado College (19th), Linfield, Occidental, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Whitworth, Puget Sound, George Fox, Whitman, and Lewis & Clark.
For complete national and regional rankings, visit the USTFCCCA web site.
* Personal Bests: Three Bruins Set New Marks in NWC Races
First-year runners Sarah Curry and Nicole Fleming both set new personal records for a 6K race in the Northwest Conference Championships on Oct. 27 at Willamette Mission State Park near Brooks, Ore. Curry posted a time of 24:18.68 in finishing 55th, while Fleming had a time of 25:09.16 and came in 61st.
The only Bruin men's runner to set a new personal mark in the 8K race at the NWC Championships was Grant Finney, who ran a 26:15.97 to place 21st. He broke his own mark he set two weeks ago with a time of 26:21 in the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational in Sunnyvale, Calif., on Oct. 13.