Nov. 6, 2004

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Brigham Young University-Hawaii's Chelsea Smith won her second straight individual women's title and Chico State University easily defended its team championships in both the men's and women's divisions at the 2004 NCAA Division II West Regional Cross Country Championships on Saturday on a muddy and rain-soaked Lake Padden Park course.

Taking the men's individual crown was Cal Poly Pomona's Mark Batres, who edged teammate Daniel Rohas by two seconds. Batres completed the 10-kilometer distance in 32:09.

"The mud is definitely not to my advantage, but it worked out today," said Batres, who was second to Rohas two weeks ago at the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championships. "It's exciting to win, I was shocked when I crossed the finish line first. We always tell each other that it doesn't matter who wins, we're just happy when it's one of us."

Smith, the defending NCAA II national champion, was clocked in 21:43 over 6-kilometers, 24 seconds ahead of Seattle Pacific's Karen Dickson. Smith was named the Outstanding Female Performer, and Batres the Outstanding Male Performer.

"I didn't like the cold weather too much, but I had fun," Smith said. "I'm excited to be defending my championship, and I have a lot of confidence because I know everybody believes in me."

Chico State won the men's title for the third straight time, having six of the top 11 finishers for a low score of 30 points in the 17-team field. Cal Poly Pomona was second with 73, and Seattle Pacific edged UC San Diego for the third, 143 to 154.

The top three teams in both divisions advance to the national championships at Evansville, Ind., on Nov. 20.

In the women's race, the Wildcats placed five runners among the top 15 for a winning score of 49 points among 19 teams. UC San Diego was second with 96 and Alaska Anchorage edged Seattle Pacific for third place, 168 to 172.

"It seems like every year just gets a little better for us," said Chico State coach Gary Towne, who was named the region's Coach of the Year for both men and women. "Our program is just developing and the kids are becoming accustomed to success. They just step in and know they have to represent. Just five years ago we were just happy to have a shot at getting to nationals, and now they're really kicking in and trying to become a top team."

"The whole thing for us is just staying focused on the job at hand. We knew the weather would kind of throw things off a bit, days like this can be really equalizing. We just didn't want to become a victim of the conditions, we just wanted to make sure fitness prevailed."

All of the top five women's finishers qualifying for nationals, since none were from national qualifying teams. Besides Smith and Dickson, they included Laura Trevellyan (Jr., Vashon Island), who was third in 23:04, Tanya Zeferjahn from Cal State San Bernardino, fourth in 23:08; and Kelly Fullerton from Seattle U., fifth in 23:11.

With four of the top five men's finishers representing qualify schools, two Humboldt State runners earned trips to nationals. They were Jasper Peach, who placed fifth in 32:47, and Brian Kostock, who was seventh in 33:07.

The trip to nationals will be the second straight for Trevellyan, who earned All-America honors last year by placing 21st. She finished fifth at regionals in 2003, and was second at this fall's Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships.

"Laura ran great, she worked the back side like she figured on doing," said Western Washington coach Pee Wee Halsell. "She had a good start, she was in position the whole time, and finishing third is just great."

The host Vikings tied for sixth in the men's division and placed eighth in the women's division. Leading the men were Mike Stewart (Fr., Edmonds/Edmonds-Woodway) 28th (34:28), Sam Brancheau (So., Edmonds/Edmonds-Woodway) 31st (34:31) and Keever Henry (R-Fr., Kelso) 33rd (34:34).

"I love the mud," said Halsell. "The men finished one place ahead of where we were ranked. That was one of our goals coming in, so we accomplished that."

"Stewart being a freshman and being our top guy, with Brancheau, a sophomore, and Henry, a redshirt freshman, being right behind, it's exciting for our future."

Chico State, ranked No.4 nationally in both the men's and women's polls, easily won titles in both races at the CCAA Championships two weeks ago. Seattle Pacific won the men's title at the GNAC meet, and Central Washington, which placed fifth at regionals, took the women's championship.

It was the third time that Western has been the regional host in its seven years as a NCAA II member, the others being 1998 and 2001.

Nov. 6 (Sat.) NCAA II West Regional - Bellingham, Wash. (Lake Padden Park)

MEN

TEAM RESULTS - 1. Chico State 30, 2. Cal Poly Pomona 73, 3.Seattle Pacific 143, 4. UC San Diego 154, 5. Alaska Anchorage 180, 6. Western Washington 197, 6. Western Oregon 197, 8. Humboldt State 200, 9. Central Washington 229, 10. Northwest Nazarene 231, 11. BYU Hawaii 240, 12. Cal State Stanislaus 316, 13. Saint Martin's 353, 14. Seattle U. 363, 15. Hawaii Hilo 377, 16. San Francisco State 401, 17. Montana State Billings 538.

WWU INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (10K) - 28. Mike Stewart 34:28, 31. Sam Brancheau 34:31, 33. Keever Henry 34:34, 48. Logan Senrud 34:56, 59. Jake Haskins 35:11, 71. Keith Lemay 35:46, 82. Ty Schepler 36:08.

TOP 10 - 1. Mark Batres CPP 32:09, 2. Daniel Rojas CPP 32:11, 3. Steven Springhorn CSUC 32:23, 4. Scott Bauhs CSUC 32:42, 5. Jasper Peach HSU 32:47, 6. Patrick Boivin CSUC 32:55, 7. Brian Kostock HSU 33:07, 8. Chris Layman CSUC 33:24, 9. Kyle Ivie CSUC 33:26, 10. Antonio Miramontes CSUC 33:30.

WOMEN

TEAM RESULTS - 1. Chico State 49, 2. UC San Diego 96, 3. Alaska Ancorage 168, 4. Seattle Pacific 172, 5. Central Washington 178, 6. Cal Poly Pomona 179, 7. Seattle U. 225, 8. Western Washington 231, 9. BYU Hawaii 234, 10. Cal State Stanislaus 256, 11. Humboldt State 279, 12. Montana State Billings 294, 13. Cal State San Bernardino 303, 14. Cal State Bakersfield 353, 15. Northwest Nazarene 356, 16. Saint Martin's 415, 17. Western Oregon 429, 18. Cal State Los Angeles 436, 19. San Francisco State 533.

WWU INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (6K) - 3. Laura Trevellyan 23:04, 51. Molly DePasqual 24:57, 54. Sara Thon 25:01, 61. Rachael Bates 25:21, 70. Kristen Haas 25:34, 93. Katie Wittrock 26:12, 97. Beth Rosapepe 26:15.

TOP 10 - 1. Chelsea Smith BYUH 21:43, 2. Karen Dickson SPU 22:07, 3. Laura Trevellyan WWU 23:04, 4. Tanya Zeferjahn CSUSB 23:08, 5. Kelly Fullerton SU 23:11, 6. Jennifer James CSUC 23:23, 7. Sarah Montez CSUC 23:29, 8. Ciara Harvey CSUC 23:30, 9. Mandy Kaempf UAA 23:31, 10. Ryan Mayfield CSUB 23:39.