Pirates thrive

The Whitworth women earned their first Northwest Conference title, scoring 37 points at the 6,000-meter course at McIver State Park in Estacada, Ore.

The Pirates’ Dana Misterek took second in 22:12.30 followed closely by teammate Joy Shufeldt who finished third in a time of 22:15.10. Linfield’s Marci Klimek won the event in 21:50.80.

With their efforts at the NWC championships and throughout the season, Misterek and Shufeldt earned spots on the All-NWC first team. Kathryn Williams, Tonya Turner and Jo E Mayer all made the All-NWC second team.

The Whitworth men failed to defend their NWC title in the 8,000-meter race, falling to Willamette 32 to 71.

Sophomore Aaron Jenkins led Whitworth with a ninth-place finish in 25:58.83, followed by Tyler Dudley’s time of 26:00.72, good for 10 place.

•Big Sky Conference Championships: Kyle King led Eastern Washington to a fifth-place finish by taking 18th in a time of 26:51.7 in the 8,000-meter race in Greeley, Colo. EWU’s Alex Smyth also finished inside the top 25 as the Eagles scored 144 points. Defending its BSC title was Northern Arizona, which scored 19 points. East Valley graduate Nick Atwood finished fourth for Montana State with a time of 25:46.3.

The EWU women finished ninth with 276 points in the 5,000-meter run, led by Stephanie Dye’s time of 21:49.9, good for 44th.

•WCC championships: The Gonzaga men and women both improved at the West Coast Conference championships in Belmont, Calif., moving up one place from their finishes the year before. The men finished fifth with 123 points, while the women took sixth with 134.

Chris Boyle led the Bulldogs with a 10th-place finish in 25:34 over the 8,000-meter course and was named to the All-WCC first team. Winning its 31st consecutive conference title was Portland in the men’s race, while San Francisco claimed its first women’s title with 45 points.

•WAC championships: Idaho sophomore Teegan Scoch finished third, just seconds behind New Mexico State freshmen Courtney and Camille Schultz to lead the Vandals at the Western Athletic Conference championships in Reno, Nev. Schoch’s time of 19:16 was less than 4 seconds off the pace of second place and helped the Vandals to a fourth-place finish with 99 points.

Sophomore teammate Markus Geiger led the Vandals’ efforts in the men’s 8,000-meter race, finishing in 26:23.1 for fourth place. Brian McKenna of Utah State won the event in a time of 26:00.1 and USU won the team title with 25 points. Idaho finished fifth with 123.

With their finish at the WAC championships, the Vandals will next decide whether to send full teams or partial teams to the West Region Championships in Eugene, Ore., Nov. 14.