Schreiber, Shipley Perform In Their First NCAA Championship
Men's Results (PDF) |
Women's Results (PDF)
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Despite the jitters one would expect of first timers on the big stage, Pacific runners
Rachel Schreiber (So., Longmont, Colo.) and
Tyler Shipley (Fr., Forest Grove, Ore.) ran solid debut races as they represented the Boxers as the 2012 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships, held at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.
Schreiber finished in 212th place in the women's 6,000-meter race in a time of 23:33.8, bettering by 30 seconds the time that she ran on this same course that she ran during the Division III Pre-Nationals in early October. Her performance was approximately 30 seconds slower than she ran at last week's west regional meet.
Shipley, meanwhile, finished in 253rd place in the men's 8,000-meter race in a time of 27:08.6. Shipley found himself caught towards the back of the field at the start of the race and was unable to make up much ground.
Pacific Head Cross Country Coach Tim Boyce said both Schreiber and Shipley ran strong races in their trips to the national meet, with both coming as the last individuals picked from the west region. “It is difficult to come down here ready as the last qualifier in your region, but with that said, both did a great job,” Boyce said. “This was Tyler's first off-race of the season and he was caught up in the moment. Rachel raced quite well. For two runners who didn't expect to be here, this was a great experience. Hopefully, this will whet their appetites for the future.”
Perfect weather conditions, with sun and temperatures around 50 degrees, provided for fast times and exciting team races. North Central (Ill.) won the men's team title with a score of 167 points, with the second, third and fourth place teams divided by a total three points. Calvin was second with 188 points. Haverford finished third with 190 points and Wis.-Stout was fourth with 190 points. Tim Nelson of Wis.-Stout was the national individual champion with his time of 24:26.8, 12 seconds ahead of Bobby Over of Allegheny.
Johns Hopkins cruised to the women's individual team title with a score of 158 points, well ahead of the 221 points of second place Wartburg. Wis.-Oshkosh's Christy Cazzola claimed the women's individual title with a time of 20:53.3. Alison Steinbrunner of Ohio Northern placed second with a time of 21:08.9.
Saturday's meet marked the first time since 2008 that Pacific has qualified athletes for the NCAA Cross Country Championship. Shipley became the first men's qualifier for the Boxers since fellow Forest Grove High School graduate Kellen Peters in 2006.
