Cross country finishes 2019 season at West Regionals
CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Chapman University men's and women's cross country teams finished up the 2019 season at the NCAA Division III West Regionals earlier this morning at Pomona-Pitzer. Freshman Maddie Mirro missed All-Region honors by just eight seconds, taking 36th place overall in the women's race.
Mirro paced the Panthers for the second consecutive race, finishing with a time of 23:54.3 to help the women to a 13th overall finish and their best finish since 2014. Freshman Katie Hansen was the next Panther to finish at 24:35.3, adding just one second to her SCIAC Championship time.
Junior Emma Eglinton kept her time under 25 minutes to finish at 24:55.9. Newcomers Gabriella Lee and Audrey James finished less than ten seconds apart from each other at 25:17.2 and 25:26.8 respectively. Freshmen Jordan Diaz and Megan Campbell rounded out the scoring for the women, posting times of 27:02.0 and 27:40.0 respectively.
The women finished ahead of SCIAC foes Cal Lutheran and Whittier while also beating out George Fox, Willamette and Mills for the 13th-place finish.
Senior Drake Butler paced the men's side for the second race in a row, placing 42nd overall with a season-best time of 27:08.7 in his final race in a Chapman uniform. Freshman Jacob Millen finished next with a time of 27:39.0 to take 57th place overall. Fellow classmate Aiden White crossed the finish line just 12 seconds later at 27:51.3.
Freshman Anthony Hart finished next for the Panthers, coming in at 28:02.3, followed by Charles Sakamaki at 28:39.5. Freshman David Anderson and junior Jose Guerrero rounded out the scoring for Chapman, finishing at 28:46.6 and 29:34.3 respectively.
The men tied for 10th place overall but lost the tie-breaker to finish 11th. The Panthers finished ahead of SCIAC opponent Cal Lutheran as well as Whitman, Pacific Lutheran and Pacific.
Head coach DeAndra'e Woods felt positive about the performance, saying "This morning we saw individuals step up for our team, which ultimately helps the group collectively. In the postseason personal records are great but placing is the most important part and giving it all you got. It's been a great season for both programs and like we told our athletes we are proud of how we've grown."
The Panthers finished off a strong 2019 season at the West Regionals and return to the course with high hopes for the 2020 season.
by Katie Bell
Sports Information Assistant
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