By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SALEM, Ore. -- Olivia Mancl (Sr., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) of Willamette University placed second and Hannah Swanson (Jr., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) took 18th place in the women's 6-kilometer race at the NCAA Division III West Region Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Nov. 12 at Bush's Pasture Park. In the men's 8-kilometer race, Patrick Loftus (Jr., Santa Rosa, CA/Sonoma Academy) earned eighth place for the Bearcats.

Mancl, Loftus and Swanson each achieved All-West Region honors, which go to the top 35 runners in each race. In addition, Mancl and Loftus clinched individual bids to the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships, set for Saturday, Oct. 19 in Louisville, Kentucky.

Willamette finished in fifth place in the women's team standings and also earned fifth place in the men's team standings. Whitworth University won the women's team title with a score of 82, to edge out Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.), which took second place at 86. Colorado College was third at 93, with Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) in fourth at 141 and Willamette in fifth at 150.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps grabbed first place in the men's team standings with a score of 43. Occidental College (Calif.) finished in second place at 81 and Pomona-Pitzer was third at 93. Whittier College (Calif.) placed fourth at 103 and Willamette was fifth at 157.

Maya Weigel of Pomona-Pitzer won her third consecutive West Region women's title with a time of 21:33.8. Mancl was second at 21:42.7 and Kayla Leland from Whitworth was third at 22:06.4.

Mancl earned second place for the second year in a row. Swanson claimed 18th place for the Bearcats with a time of 23:05.4. Jamie Smith (Fr., Seattle, WA/Ballard HS) of Willamette took 41st place in 24:09.7, while Ami Boucher (Sr., Concord, CA/Northgate HS) was 45th in 24:17.8 and Kyla Shade (Fr., Snohomish, WA/Snohomish HS) was 47th in 24:19.6.

Emily Evans of WU placed 56th at 24:40.5. Teammate Hazel Carr (So., Seattle, WA/The Northwest School) was 66th at 24:56.9. A total of 133 runners competed in the women's race.

Brad Hodkinson of Pacific Lutheran University took first place in the men's race with a time of 25:40.4. Joshua Sealand of CMS was second in 25:47.7, and Kyle Lund of CMS was third at 25:48.3. A total of 122 athletes competed in the men's race.

Loftus placed eighth and recorded a time of 26:10.5 for the Bearcats. Schafer Wilson (Fr., Shangai, China/Concordia International School) took 36th place in 27:20.3, and Keith Carlson (So., Bainbridge Island, WA//Bainbridge HS) crossed the finish line in 38th place at 27:31.7.

WU runners Ryan Morris-McDermott (So., Orinda, CA/Miramonte HS) and Michael Montague (Fr., San Diego, CA/Canyon Crest Academy) placed 41st and 42nd, respectively, with Morris-McDermott completing the race in 27:27.0 and Montague earning a time of 27:42.4.

Ricardo Castillo-Flores (So./Jr., Hood River, OR/Hood River Valley HS) placed 56th in 28:03.3. Also running for Willamette was Ross Enlow (Fr., Unalaska, AK/Unalaska HS), who registered a time of 28:39.4.