By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SPOKANE, Wash. -- Zoe Heino (Fy., Portland, OR/Mountainside HS) from Willamette University earned 51st place out of 165 runners in the women's 6-kilometer race at the 2022 NCAA Division III West Regional Cross Country Championships at Plantes Ferry Sports Complex. William Hennum (So., Philomath, OR/Liberty HS, Nev.) of Willamette took 53rd place out of 160 competitors in the men's 8-kilometer race.
Heino recorded a time of 23:25.20 for the Bearcats. Also for the WU women's team, Anna Bikle (Fy., Woodside, CA/Half Moon Bay HS) placed 87th in 24:33.00. Aven Roberts (Fy., Missoula, MT/Hellgate HS) was timed at 25:09.90 and JJ Chatham (Fy., Jackson, Wyoming/Jackson Hole HS) completed the course in 25:28.70. Leila Fischer (Jr., Wenatchee, WA/Wenatchee HS) crossed the finish line in 25:56.70 and was soon followed by Grace Kosmicki (Fy., Pocatello, ID/Highland HS) in 25:58.00. Melissa Duncan (Jr., Canyon Country, CA/Canyon HS) was timed at 26:11.40.
Hennum's time in the men's race was 26:14.70. Jay Chew (Fy., Elk Grove, CA/Laguna Creek HS) from Willamette finished 109th at 27:15.10. Milo Greenberg (Jr., Seattle, WA/The Northwest School) finished the race in 27:42.20, while Joshua Evans (So., Lafayette, CA/Acalanes HS) registered a time of 28:00.00. Gilbert Sanchez Torres (Fy., Citrus Heights, CA/Bella Vista HS) reached the finish line in 28:15.00. Ian Curtis (Sr., Eugene, OR/South Eugene HS) was timed at 29:02.80.
The Bearcats placed 16th in the women's team standing. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) won the women's team championship with a score of 37 (1-4-5-11-16). Pomona-Pitzer College (Calif.) was second at 73 and the University of California, Santa Cruz took third place at 112. George Fox University placed fourth with 121 points and Colorado College was fifth at 127. A total of 23 teams were listed in the final standings.
Natalie Bitetti of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps claimed the women's individual title by completing the six kilometers in 21:41.30. She won by 11.5 seconds over Riley Martel-Phillips of UC Santa Cruz, who placed second in 21:52.80. Third place went to Abigail Liselle of Pomona-Pitzer at 21:53.70. Meredith Bloss from CMS was fourth at 21:57.70, and Kylah Hollond of Hardin-Simmons University (Texas) finsihed one second later in fifth place at 21:58.70.
In the men's team competition, Willamette took 19th place. Pomona-Pitzer claimed the men's team championship with a score of 36 (1-5-7-10-13) to win by 29 points over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, which placed second at 65. UC Santa Cruz was third at 103, with George Fox in fourth at 144, and Colorado College in fifth at 163. The men's race included 22 teams.
The men's individual title was won by Lucas Florsheim of Pomona-Pitzer, who ran the eight kilometers in 24:23.20. About six seconds later, Henry Pick from CMS crossed the finish line in second at 24:29.30. Erick Jackson from UC Santa Cruz placed third in 24:34.30, just 3.1 seconds before teammate Oliver Chang took fourth place in 24:37.40. Cameron Hatler of Pomona-Pitzer was fifth at 24:40.30.
