Complete women's results (PDF)
        Complete men's results (PDF)
 MONMOUTH, Ore. – They went for a warm-down jog figuring they had put out their best cross country race of the season … but that their best wasn't quite good enough to make it to nationals.
 
By the time the Seattle Pacific women got back from that warm-down, they had learned that it was indeed good enough.

With five points to spare.
 
Anna Patti ran to a fourth-place finish, sophomore Mary Charleson had the race of her life to place 20th and make the All-Region team, and the Falcons squeezed out the final spot for the NCAA Division II national championship meet by taking fifth on Saturday morning at the West Regionals.
 
SPU checked in with 207 points in the race at Western Oregon University's Ash Creek Preserve. That total edged out Great Northwest Athletic Conference rival Central Washington by five (the Wildcats had 212) for the last set of tickets to Joplin, Mo.
 

 
"At our team meeting last night, all we talked about was just putting it all out there and crossing the finish line and falling on your knees," said senior Lynelle Decker, who now will race in her third national XC meet. "I knew I was doing that, I knew the team was doing that. So even if we hadn't made it, I knew it was all put out on the course today."
 
"When we found out, It was so surreal," sophomore Jessica Rawlins said.  "It's still so surreal."
 
This will be the third time in the past four years that the Falcons have made the national cut. It is the 17th NCAA trip in program history, and the 20th overall national appearance. (The first three, in 1979, 1980, and 1981, were under the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) umbrella before the NCAA took over sponsorship.)
 
Chico State won the regional crown with 89 points, and Western Washington was second with 165.
 
A testament to the depth and quality of the West Region field was that the final three qualifiers all had scores of higher than 200 points: Alaska Anchorage at 201, Cal Baptist at 203, and Seattle Pacific with 207.
 
Rarely does a score in the 200s make the cut.
 

 "We added the team score in our head and we thought, 'Well, it's probably not going to quite be enough,'" assistant coach Chris Reed said. "It's really nice that the effort we felt so proud of was rewarded with a national berth."
 
Even before she knew, assistant coach Audra Smith wasn't ready to concede anything.
 
"I thought, 'It's not over until it's over, not until those results come out,'" Smith said. "They never gave up – No. 7 didn't give up, No. 6 didn't give up. They passed so many people out there, and they found a way, regardless of knowing if they were going to qualify or not."
 
Before the team found out it was NCAA-bound, Falcons senior Patti (Renton, Wash. / Lindbergh HS) already knew she was going, as her top-5 finish guaranteed her an individual qualifying slot. Last year, Patti was seventh at regionals in Billings, Mont. But three runners whose teams didn't qualify finished ahead of her, so the three individual qualifying berths went to them.
 
Patti completed her 6 kilometers on Saturday in 21 minutes, 15.71 seconds. Charleson (Mill Creek, Wash. / Henry M. Jackson HS) who made a big surge on the final loop, clocked 21:48.40 to snag 20th. The top 25 earned spots on the All-Region team.
 

 Just two weeks ago, Patti was fourth at the GNAC Championships in Bellingham and felt should have run better than that.
 
On Saturday, she did, and now is fourth-best in the entire West, with only  Anchorage's Chelimo (20:42.34) and Caroline Kurgat (20:59.57) and Chico State's Sadie Gastelum (21:05.57) ahead of her – and 188 other runners behind her in the field of 192.
 
"I think I came into it a lot more focused," Patti said. "I knew how much was at stake, even more than at conference. So I was able to take that, and instead of being afraid of it, really harness it. That really was my main goal was not to be fearful."
 
HALLADAY LEADS SPU MEN
As he has been for most of the season, sophomore Ben Halladay set the pace for the Seattle Pacific men, placing 99th on Saturday for the Falcons at West Regionals.
                                                             
Halladay (Mukilteo, Wash. / Kamiak HS) completed 10 kilometers in 32 minutes, 34.11 seconds.
 
SPU totaled 551 points to take 20th among the 23 teams.
 
Once again, the Falcons had a tight front three. Senior Adam Avischious was 106th in 32:46.50, and senior Brian Comer was 108th in 32:48.06.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Division II West Regionals
Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015
6 kilometers at Ash Creek Preserve / Monmouth, Ore.
                                      
Team scores (top 5 to nationals) – 1, Chico State 89; 2, Western Washington 165; 3, Alaska Anchorage 201; 4, Cal Baptist 203; 5, Seattle Pacific 207; 6, Central Washington 212; 7, UC San Diego 223; 8, Cal Poly Pomona 247; 9, Cal State San Bernardino 265; 10, Simon Fraser 273; 11, Azusa Pacific 279; 12, Cal State Stanislaus 291; 13, Humboldt State 296; 14, Point Loma 322; 15, Western Oregon 416; 16, Cal State Monterey Bay 429; 17, Northwest Nazarene 472; 18, Hawaii Pacific 478; 19, Saint Martin's 542; 20, San Francisco State 569; 21, Alaska Fairbanks 585; 22, Dixie State 599; 23, Fresno Pacific 610; 24, Cal State East Bay 649; 25, Montana State Billings 669; 26, Cal State Los Angeles 701; 27, Dominican 737; 28, Hawaii-Hilo 798.
 
Top 10 – 1, Joyce Chelimo (UAA) 20:42.34; 2, Caroline Kurgat (UAA) 20:59.57; 3, Sadie Gastelum (Chico) 21:05.57; 4, Anna Patti (SPU) 21:15.71; 5, Eileen Stressling (Azusa) 21:19.24; 6, Taylor Guenther (WWU) 21:21.29; 7, Hannah Bell (CS Mont. Bay) 21:27.15; 8, Quetta Peinado (Chico) 21:27.50; 9, Rebecca Bassett (Simon) 21:28.20; 10, Marissa Nickles (CP Pomona) 21:30.57.
                      
Other SPU placers – 20, Mary Charleson 21:48.40; 42, Sarah Macdonald 22:11.71; 72, Hannah Calvert 22:41.43; 73, Chynna Phan 22:43.05; 78, Lynelle Decker 22:44.28; 90, Jessica Rawlins 22:55.51.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY      
Division II West Regionals
Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015
6 kilometers at Ash Creek Preserve / Monmouth, Ore.
 
Team scores (top 4 to nationals) – 1, Alaska Anchorage 55; 2, Chico State 79; 3, Cal Poly Pomona 81; 4, Simon Fraser 107; 5, San Francisco State 167; 6, Western Washington 194; 7, Azusa Pacific 233; 8, Cal Baptist 243; 9, Academy of Art 271; 10, Montana State Billings 287; 11, Humboldt State 291; 12, Western Oregon 309; 13, UC San Diego 320; 14, Central Washington 400; 15, Cal State Monterey Bay 427; 16, Northwest Nazarene 473; 17, Fresno Pacific 497; 18, Alaska Fairbanks 500; 19, Dixie State 545; 20, Seattle Pacific 551; 21, Hawaii Pacific 608; 22, Saint Martin's 646; 23, Cal State East Bay 681.
 
Top 10 – 1, Henry Cheseto (UAA) 29:29.82; 2, Dominik Notz (UAA) 29:32.63; 3, William Reyes (Chico) 29:36.55; 4, Valentin Peipot (Art) 29:53.83; 5, Oliver Jorgensen (Simon) 29:59.40; 6, Mark Huizar (CP Pomona) 30:03.07; 7, Ruben Dominguez (CP Pomona) 30:404.85; 8, Edwin Kangogo (UAA) 30:06.78; 9, Francisco Gomez (CP Pomona) 30:08.38; 10, David Ribich (WOU) 30:11.95.
 
SPU placers – 99, Ben Halladay 32:34.11; 106, Adam Avischious 32:46.50; 108, Brian Comer 32:48.06; 127, David McLeod 33:32.76; 128, Joseph Walker 33:33.74; 130, Brysten James 33:36.07; 145, Clark Sterling 34:09.00.