Pirates take best finish

CLEVELAND – Following a dominant regular season and a first-place finish at the West Regional, the Whitworth women’s cross country team wrapped up its season with its best finish at nationals, placing sixth at the NCAA Division III Championships at Highland Park Golf Course.

Joy Shufeldt took 23rd in 22 minutes, 38.4 seconds while Dana Misterek ran the 6,000-meter race in 22:39.4 for 26th place to lead the Pirates, who scored 291 points.

Wisconsin-Eau Clair won the women’s title with 171 points, while St. Lawrence’s Wendy Pavlus won the individual title in 21:28.

Finishing in the top 35, Shufeldt and Misterek were named All-Americans. Whitworth’s Tonya Turner (76th) and Katie Williams (89th) also finished high.

Nick Gallagher and Aaron Jenkins represented Whitworth’s men. Gallagher finished in 27:02.1 in 140th place and Jenkins took 222nd in 7:45.3.

Lynchburg’s Ricky Flynn won the individual title in 25:09.8 and North Central (Ill.) ran away with the men’s title with 50 points.