RESULTS

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Two pairs – one a pair of senior women, the other a pair of freshmen men – led the Portland women's and men's cross country teams to two of their best finishes ever at the NCAA West Regional Friday at the Haggin Oaks Golf Complex.
 
A familiar duo led the Vikings on the women's side, as seniors Sarah Medved and Kaila Gibson ended a season of pushing each other at the top by placing 39th and 40th overall in the women's 6k, leading the Viking women to a 15th-place team finish – the team's best finish at the NCAA West Regional since they placed 11th overall in 2002.
 
Medved and Gibson became the first Viking teammates – male or female – to place in the top 40 together at the NCAA West Regional Friday, just under two weeks after they became the first Viking teammates to place in the top 10 together at the Big Sky Conference meet. The Vikings had never had two runners place in the top 50 of the NCAA West Regional before Medved and Gibson, let alone the top 40.
 
Freshmen Max Norman and Drew Seidel, meanwhile, positioned themselves to take the mantle from Medved and Gibson next season, as they became the first pair of freshmen men's runners at Portland State to place in the top 100 together at the NCAA West Regional while finishing 98th and 99th overall, respectively, in the men's 10k. The Viking men hadn't placed two runners of any classification in the top 100 since 2003, when Michael Devenport and Blake Flanders placed 56th and 93rd overall, respectively.
 
Norman and Seidel's finishes led the Viking men to a 21st-place team finish, the Viking men's best performance at the NCAA West Regional since they placed 18th overall in 2003.
 
Additionally, Medved broke the school record in the cross country 6k with her finish in 20:48.1, nearly 10 seconds faster than the old record of 20:58.00 that Sarah Dean set at the 2013 NCAA West Regional. Gibson also bettered the old record while finishing right behind Medved in 20:48.4 – 18 seconds better than her previous best of 21:06 in the cross country 6k.
 
Medved and Gibson will finish their cross country careers 1-2 in the PSU record books of the 6k as a result, and the senior teammates also moved into the top three of the cross country 4k (Gibson 1st, Medved 3rd) and 5k (Gibson 2nd, Medved 3rd) this season. Additionally, Medved's 39th-place finish also marked the second-highest individual finish ever recorded by a Viking at the NCAA West Regional, and the highest since Melissa Telford placed 28th in 1999.
 
Norman's time of 31:33.3 moved him up to third all time in the cross country 10k at Portland State as a freshman, while Seidel moved in right behind at fourth all time with his finish in 31:33.4. Norman's 98th-place finish also marked the highest finish by a first-year Viking men's runner at the NCAA West Regional since Devenport placed 64th overall in 2002.

Outside of the two duos, sophomore newcomer Delaney White followed as the Viking women's third finisher, her highest finish within the Vikings' lineup all season. White placed 105th overall in 21:40.5 – more than 50 seconds faster than her previous best 6k time this season of 22:31, set at the Cougar Classic on Sept. 14.
 
Freshman Linnaea Kavulich also set a new personal best in the women's 6k, as she placed 114th overall in 21:45.9. Kavulich's time beat her previous best in the 6k by over 15 seconds, and also crushed her 6k time at Pre-Nationals – a similar race to Friday's NCAA West Regional – by over 75 seconds.
 
Fellow freshman Phoebe Jacques finished as the Viking women's fifth runner, as she placed 122nd overall in 21:55.0 to give herself a new 6k personal best by four seconds. Freshmen Hunter Storm and Sammy Burke rounded out the Viking women's top seven at the meet, as they placed 147th and 156th overall, respectively, in 22:14.2 and 22:22.2.
 
On the men's side, sophomore Andy Solano showed dramatic improvement over his finish at the NCAA West Regional last season, while finishing as the Viking men's third runner Friday. Solano placed 147th overall in 32:38.6, 49 places and more than 90 seconds better than his finish (196th) and time (34:13.7) at last season's regional meet.
 
Junior Jason Rae, running in his first NCAA West Regional, followed Solano as the Viking men's fourth runner, finishing 152nd overall in 32:42.1.
 
Redshirt sophomore Andrew Stafford competed in his first NCAA West Regional since his true freshman season in 2016, and followed Solano with improvements in both place and time. Stafford placed 157th overall in 32:50.1 Friday, better than his place (166th) and time (33:27.0) as a freshman.
 
Freshmen Luke Ramirez and Ian Vickstrom got their first looks at the NCAA West Regional Friday, and rounded out the Vikings' top seven while placing 175th and 179th overall, respectively, in times of 33:18.0 and 33:22.6.
 
The NCAA West Regional ends the cross country season for the Vikings, who will now gear up for the indoor track & field season starting in January.
 
NCAA West Regional
Haggin Oaks Golf Complex
Sacramento, Calif.
Nov. 9, 2018
 
Women's Top Ten Finishers (6k):
1. Allie Ostrander, Boise State, 19:09.0; 2. Jessica Hull, Oregon, 19:22.5; 3. Susan Ejore, Oregon, 19:24.6; 4. Elise Cranny, Stanford, 19:26.2; 5. Fiona O'Keeffe, Stanford, 19:27.0; 6. Clare O'Brien, Boise State, 19:33.8; 7. Weronika Pyzik, Oregon, 19:35.4; 8. Lauren LaRocco, Portland, 19:38.3; 9. Katie Rainsberger, Washington, 19:40.6; 10. Taryn Rawlings, Portland, 19:48.2.
 
Women's Team Scores:
1. Oregon, 44 points; 2. Boise State, 49 points; 3. Stanford, 95 points; 4. Washington, 118 points; 5. Portland, 144 points; 6. Oregon State, 196 points; 7. UCLA, 215 points; 8. Cal Poly, 232 points; 9. San Jose State, 273 points; 10. San Francisco, 276 points; 11. Cal State Fullerton, 316 points; 12. Washington State, 325 points; 13. California, 333 points; 14. Idaho, 407 points; 15. Portland State, 410 points; 16. Arizona State, 434 points; 17. Loyola Marymount, 520 points; 18. UC Santa Barbara, 529 points; 19. UC Davis, 552 points; 20. Sacramento State, 593 points; 21. Grand Canyon, 624 points; 22. San Diego, 646 points; 23. Saint Mary's (Calif.), 711 points; 24. Gonzaga, 714 points; 25. UC Irvine, 731 points; 26. Long Beach State, 751 points; 27. Santa Clara, 756 points; 28. San Diego State, 818 points; 29. Fresno State, 851 points; 30. UC Riverside, 902 points; 31. Seattle U, 960 points; 32. UNLV, 978 points; 33. Pacific, 980 points; 34. Pepperdine, 1010 points; 35. Hawaii, 1097 points; 36. Eastern Washington, 1098 points.
 
Portland State Runners (out of 250):
39. Sarah Medved, 20:48.1; 40. Kaila Gibson, 20:48.4; 105. Delaney White, 21:40.5; 114. Linnaea Kavulich, 21:45.9; 122. Phoebe Jacques, 21:55.0; 147. Hunter Storm, 22:14.2; 156. Sammy Burke, 22:22.2.
 
Men's Top Ten Finishers (10k):
1. Nick Hauger, Portland, 29:42.4; 2. Carlos Villarreal, Arizona, 29:43.4; 3. Koby Pederson, Loyola Marymount, 29:44.1; 4. Tanner Anderson, Washington, 29:44.6; 5. Jack Rowe, San Francisco, 29:45.7; 6. Garrett Corcoran, California, 29:46.3; 7. Addison Dehaven, Boise State, 29:47.8; 8. Blake Haney, Oregon, 29:48.2; 9. Chris Olley, San Francisco, 29:48.5; 10. James Mwaura, Gonzaga, 29:48.9.
 
Men's Team Scores:
1. Portland, 77 points; 2. Washington, 82 points; 3. Boise State, 102 points; 4. Stanford, 110 points; 5. Oregon, 149 points; 6. UCLA, 150 points; 7. Washington State, 218 points; 8. California, 225 points; 9. Gonzaga, 229 points; 10. Cal Poly, 284 points; 11. San Francisco, 296 points; 12. San Jose State, 325 points; 13. Loyola Marymount, 404 points; 14. Arizona State, 405 points; 15. Pepperdine, 418 points; 16. UC Santa Barbara, 459 points; 17. Idaho, 515 points; 18. Santa Clara, 533 points; 19. Saint Mary's (Calif.), 563 points; 20. Cal State Fullerton, 601 points; 21. Portland State, 627 points; 22. Seattle U, 644 points; 23. UC Irvine, 676 points; 24. Grand Canyon, 678 points; 25. Sacramento State, 689 points; 26. Long Beach State, 694 points; 27. UC Riverside, 705 points; 28. Eastern Washington, 713 points; 29. San Diego, 813 points.
 
Portland State Runners (out of 208):
98. Max Norman, 31:33.3; 99. Drew Seidel, 31:33.4; 147. Andy Solano, 32:38.6; 152. Jason Rae, 32:42.1; 157. Andrew Stafford, 32:50.1; 175. Luke Ramirez, 33:18.0; 179. Ian Vickstrom, 33:22.6.