By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

SALEM, ORE. -- Willamette University runner Parker Bennett (Sr., Sisters, OR/Sisters HS) has officially received an individual automatic bid to compete at the 2013 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Nov. 23at theL.S. Ayres Athletic Complex in Hanover, Ind.

The Willamette women's cross country runners earned an automatic team bid to the NCAA Championships by taking second place at the NCAA West Regional on Saturday (Nov. 16).

Individual automatic bids were earned by the top seven finishers in each regional who were not on teams selected for the NCAA Championships.

Bennett placed second in the 8-kilometer men's race at the NCAA West Regional with a time of 24:52.14. He will be joined by six other individual qualifiers from the West. They are John Guzman of Occidental College, Nick Hall from Colorado College, Bryan Hayes from the University of La Verne, Scott Oseguera from the University of Redlands, Tyler Shipley of Pacific University, and Colin Smith from Occidental.

Men's team automatic bids in the West Region were achieved by Pomona-Pitzer, which won the regional title, and by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, which finished second. Guzman won the men's individual championship in the West Regional in 24:40.27.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Willamette received the team automatic bids from the West Region in women's cross country after CMS won the regional championship and the Bearcats took second. WU will be able to enter seven runners in the women's race at the NCAA Championships.

Michaela Freeby (Jr., Milwaukie, OR/Rex Putnam HS) of Willamette earned the women's individual title at the West Regional with a time of 21:37.66 over the 6-kilometer course.

Although Freeby qualified for the NCAA Championships through Willamette's team automatic bid, seven other runners have received individual automatic berths from the West Region.

They are Evie Borchard from the University of California-Santa Cruz, Claire Brickson of Pomona-Pitzer, Kathryn Flyte from the University of Puget Sound, Ashley Frese from California Lutheran University, Skye Pauly of Whitman College, Melissa Skiba from California Lutheran, and Kaitlyn Throgmorton of Lewis & Clark College.

Under changes to the selection process, the NCAA did not choose any West Region men's or women's teams for at-large bids to this year's championships. The new rules eliminated limits on how many teams could be selected from one region. Several regions in the central and eastern parts of the country received additional bids.