CHICO, Calif. - Seattle University junior Charisse Arce (Seattle, Wash.) was the top Redhawk finisher on the women's side and Nicholas Alvarado (San Francisco, Calif.) finished a stellar freshman campaign by finishing first among Seattle male runners at the NCAA Cross Country West Regionals, held Saturday morning at the Lake Oroville Forebay Aquatics Center.
In the team competition, the women's team finished tied with GNAC rival Saint Martin's for 16th place with 422 points, ahead of Hawaii Pacific. Cal State Los Angeles edged out Seattle Pacific, UC San Diego, and Chico State for the women's regional title. On the men's side, the Redhawks finished in 16th place with 456 total points. Four Chico State runners finished in the top ten to give the host school the men's regional title.
Arce finished in 52nd place in a time of 23:35.25, almost three minutes behind regional champion Jessica Pixler of Seattle Pacific. Natalie Martinez (San Francisco, Calif.) was the next Seattle runner to finish, crossing the finish line in 86th place (24:36.49), followed closely by Rhiannon Cadelinia (San Francisco, Calif.) in 89th place (24:39.72) and Jaime Clark (St. Louis, Mo.) in 96th place (24:54.00). Asia VanderBilt (Seattle, Wash.) crossed the finish line in 110th place (25:31.34), with Greta Stickney (Poulsbo, Wash.) and Jennifer Innes (San Bruno, Calif.) finishing in 119th and 120th places, respectively.
Todd Iacovelli of Hawaii Pacific won the regional individual title, with Alverado finishing in 68th place, over three minutes later in a time of 35:22.75 over the 10-kilometer course. Nick Kirschner (Seattle, Wash.) and Andrew Lybarger (Spokane, Wash.) finished in 91st (37:06.90) and 93rd places (37:1.03), respectively, with Chris Henry (West Seattle, Wash.) crossing the finish line in 103rd place (38:02.57) and Andrew Wilburn (Boise, Idaho) ending the race in 107th place (42:59.05).
The NCAA Division II West Regional is the final race for the 2006 cross country team. Only two seniors combined are expected to leave the team after this season. While Alvarado is expected to continue to pace the men's cross country team, the women's team will be boosted by the returns of Katie Hansen (Portland, Ore.) and Rachel Yorkston (Bellingham, Wash.) from foot injuries.