Swanson and Carlson Earn Individual Bids to NCAA Championships

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

CLAREMONT, Calif. -- Willamette University runners Hannah Swanson (Sr., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) and Keith Carlson (Jr., Bainbridge Island, WA/Bainbridge HS) earned indiivdual bids to the 2017 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships with quality finishes at the NCAA West Regional on Saturday, Nov. 11. Swanson took sixth place in the 6-kilometer women's race. Carlson placed 15th in the 8-kilometer men's race.

In each Regional race, the top two teams, plus the top seven runners not on those teams, receive automatic bids to the NCAA Championships. The NCAA title races will be held at the North Farm Cross Country Facility on Saturday, Nov. 18, starting at 9 a.m. (PST).

Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) won the men's title with a score of 35 (1-4-8-9-13). University of California, Santa Cruz took second place at 90. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) was third at 103, with Occidental College (Calif.) in fourth at 132. Pacific Lutheran University placed fifth at 209, and Willamette was sixth at 215. Lewis & Clark College was seventh at 224. A total of 18 men's teams competed.

The women's team championship went to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps with a winning score of 58 (1-9-15-16-17). Whitworth University was second at 109 and Linfield College placed third at 129. Colorado College grabbed fourth place at 133. Occidental was fifth at 152. Willametter's women placed 11th. Twenty women's teams competed in the Regional race.

Michael Montague (So., San Diego, CA/Canyon Crest Academy), who finished 18th in the men's race, will receive an individual bid to the national competition if Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Occidental are awarded team at-large bids. At large bids will be announced on Sunday, Nov. 12.

Bryn McKillop from CMS won the West Region women's individual title. She crossed the finish line in 21:07.51. She won by just over 20 seconds. Lauren Hamilton of Pomona-Pitzer was second in 21:28.09, and Kayla Leland of Whitworth was third at 21:41.51. Maria Ramirez from University of Redlands placed fourth at 21:50.07. Julissa Tobias from Whittier College was fifth in 21:55.09. Swanson took sixth for Willamette 2.43 seconds later at 21:57.52. Courtney Beard of Linfield was seventh at 22:05.03. Swanson earned All-West Region recognition.

Emily Evans (Jr., Anchorage, AK/South Anchorage HS) of Willamette was 57th with a time of 24:09.14. Kyla Shade (So., Snohomish, WA/Snohomish HS) placed 63rd for the Bearcats in 24:20.17. Maggie Chapin (So., Buffalo, WY/Buffalo HS) was 68th in 24:25.94. Risa Shutz placed 97th in 25:26.35, and Hazel Carr (Jr., Seattle, WA/The Northwest School) was 104th in 25:39.72.

The men's individual Regional championship went to Andy Reischling of Pomona-Pitzer, who completed the race in 25:04.04. Brad Hodkinson from Pacific Lutheran was close to Reischling, but took second place in 25:05.64. Julian Sandoval from Whittier was third at 25:15.84. Colin Mulligan of Pomona-Pitzer was fourth in 25:24.87, and Draven Hawk of UC Santa Cruz was fifth in 25:29.41. Keenan Leary of Occidental placed sixth at 25:29.89. Thomas D'Anieri took seventh place for CMS in 25:31.50.

Carlson's time in 15th place for Willamette was 25:52.52. Montague's 18th place time for the Bearcats was 26:05.99. Ross Enlow (So., Unalaska, AK/Unalaska HS) of WU took 26th with a time of 26:23.04. Ricardo Castillo-Flores (Jr./Sr., Hood River, OR/Hood River Valley HS) placed 74th in 27:47.67. Jack Kobylka (Sr., Napa, CA/Vintage HS) was 84th in 28:14.59. Carlson, Montague and Enlow earned All-West Region honors.

Also running for the Bearcats were Kellen Bulger (So., Spokane, WA/Ferris HS) and Robbie Melhorn (Jr., Bangkok, Thailand/International School Bangkok). Bulger finished 101st in 28:41.57 and Melhorn was 115th and recorded a time of 29:30.62.