Whitworth women reign

Dana Misterek crossed the finish line in third place in 22 minutes, 10.74 seconds for 6,000 meters Saturday to start the procession of Whitworth runners.

Three more Pirates finished in the top 20, leading Whitworth to a dominant first-place finish at the NCAA Division III West Regional at Pomona-Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif.

Joy Shufeldt took sixth and Tonya Turner ninth as Whitworth scored 49 points, with almost 60 points separating it from second-place Whitman, which finished with 108.

The Pirates men didn’t recapture the magic that led to a West Regional title a year ago, finishing fourth in the 8,000 meter run, and must wait for the field to be announced today to see if they will join the women at the Division III national meet.

Already punching their tickets, though, were Whitworth’s Aaron Jenkins and Nick Gallagher, who finished 11th and 12th, respectively.

•Kendra Schaaf became the first University of Washington woman to win the NCAA Division I West Regional since 1980 and the Huskies dominated the field with 25 points to win their second consecutive regional title in Springfield, Ore.

With five runners finishing in the top 10, the Huskies are aiming to defend their national title from 2008 with the team heading to the Division I National Championships Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Ind.

Washington State fifth-year senior Lisa Egami took 11th at the West Regional in 21:18 in the 6,000-meter race.

•Looking to make the national championship field as an at-large team, the Washington men’s team took fourth, led by Colton Tully-Doyle’s 31:12.52 for an 18th-place finish.

The Cougars were paced by Justin Eglund’s 31:53.07, while Gonzaga saw Chris Boyle and Brett Withers finish 10th and 132nd. Eastern Washington’s Kyle King took 120th.

Winning the men’s title was Stanford’s Chris Derrick in 30:38.84.

•Anthony Brown finished second and Community Colleges of Spokane completed its ninth consecutive title with 24 points at the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges Championships in Battle Ground, Wash.

Brown finished 4 seconds behind men’s champion Cesar Perez of Lane, crossing in 25:29.

The CCS women were gunning for their fourth straight title but were stopped by Everett, which scored 23 points to the Sasquatch’s 55.

Kelly Turner’s 19:07 led Spokane.

CCS men’s coach Sean McLachlan was named NWAACC coach of the year, while women’s coach Erin McLachlan was named co-coach of the year.