SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. – The Boxer men and women's cross country teams competed in the 2022 NCAA DIII Cross Country Regional Championship meet on Saturday, November 12. Annie Berry and Liz Bradley earned All-Region Honors for their respective 7^th and 26^th place finishes in the women's race. The women's team placed 7^th overall out of 23 teams, with 232 points, which is their highest team finish at the NCAA Regional Championship in school history. 

Top Performers
Annie Berry led the women's team with her 7^th place finish and time of 21:59.60. Berry was the fourth woman to cross the line who was not a member of the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps team, who qualified automatically as a team for the NCAA DIII Cross Country National Championship meet by means of winning the NCAA Regional Championship. This means that Annie Berry has qualified for the NCAA National Championships as an individual for being one of the top seven finishers outside of winning team CMS's runners. All final qualifying teams and individuals were announced today. Click here to see who's going to the big dance on Saturday, November 19.  

Berry was also the first woman from the Northwest Conference to finish the race – the next NWC runner was Sarah Paquet of Pacific Lutheran in 11^th place with a time of 22:07.90. Paquet also qualifies for the NCAA Championship.

Liz Bradley had an incredible day, finishing 26^th overall, with a time of 22:48.30. Bradley was the eighth runner from the Northwest Conference to cross the line, following Berry's steps in having her strongest race of the season today. Bradley earns All-Region Honors as well for her Top-35 finish at the Championships. Bradley came very close to qualifying for NCAAs with Berry, but missed out by just two spots.

Maddy Hubbs stepped up and had a phenomenal day, placing 56^th with a time of 23:30.50. Hubbs also had a much stronger performance than two weeks ago at the NWC Championships. Teammate Cris Brethower was the fourth Boxer to cross the line. She took 66^th place in a time of 23:59.30. Natalie Taylor rounded out the top five scorers for the Boxers with her 92^nd place finish and time of 24:42.60.

The men took 22^nd place with 541 points. Will Wada and Dexter Patching led the men's team with their side-by-side finish. Wada took 90^th place in 26:49.1, and Patching took 91^st place in 26:49.2. Patching showed improvement from his NWC Championship race. Kohei Ueji was the Boxer's third runner, placing 120^th in 27:31.7; Reese Yamamoto was the Boxer's fourth finisher, placing 131^st in 28:01.7; and Dylan Todd rounded out the Boxer's top five with his 146^th place finish and time of 28:57.5.

What It Means
The women's team took 7^th place with 232 points – their highest NCAA Regional Championship finish in school history. They surpassed their #8 Regional Ranking and also managed to be the second best Northwest Conference team at the Regional Championships, beating Lewis and Clark by a close eight points after taking third to them in the Northwest Conference Championships. Annie Berry and Liz Bradley both received All-Region Honors for their Top-35 finishes. Berry also qualified for the NCAA National Championships as an individual.

"I am really proud of our teams today, especially our women's team," said head coach Bailee Krings. "Our men's team didn't have a good day, and their finish is disappointing given their finish at our conference championship. I do believe that as a young team, they had a successful season and learned a lot. We will return most of that squad next year, and I anticipate some good improvement. Our women's team really stepped up today! They worked through some adversity, ran smart, and executed their races with confidence. Several of our runners had their best races of their season when it really counted. They were truly a team today; they raced for a common goal and they achieved it! I am very proud!"

Up Next
Annie Berry will represent Pacific University in the NCAA DIII National Cross Country Championship race on Saturday, November 19 at Forest Akers Golf Course in Lansing, Michigan. She will be seeking a top-40 finish, which would earn her NCAA All-American Honors.

For the latest information on Pacific Athletics, make sure to check out GoBoxers.com. You can also find the Boxers on social media at @GoBoxers and @BoxerTFXC, and on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
 
#GoBoxers