Complete Results

STANFORD, Calif. --- Alfred Kipchumba and David Kinsella finished third and fourth, respectively, to lead the University of Portland men’s cross country team to a third-place finish at the NCAA Division I West Regional on Saturday. Tommy Betterbed joined Portland’s top duo to earn all-region status with a 12th place finish in the 10K event held at Stanford Golf Course.

 

No. 1-ranked Oregon took the regional title with a team score of 38 and was trailed by Stanford (72), Portland (85), California (116) and Washington (122). The top two teams from each regional automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships, while the at-large bids will be announced on Sunday by 4 p.m. (PST). With its third place finish, the Pilots are all but guaranteed to receive one of the 13 at-large selections.

 

“We were very happy to survive,” Portland head coach Rob Conner said. “It was very hot out there today and we had a few casualties because of the heat. I was thrilled that we got through in one piece and to only finish 13 points behind Stanford was a good showing.”

 

Kipchumba, a native of Kenya, is in his first year with the Pilots and continues his impressive fall run. Earlier this season at the Bill Dellinger Invitational, Kipchumba was the runner-up to Kinsella. This time Kipchumba crossed the finish line seconds ahead of his All-American teammate.

 

Kinsella is looking to earn his second consecutive cross country All-America award after earning the best finish in school history with an eighth-place showing at the 2007 NCAA Championships.

 

“Alfred and Kinsella ran great,” Conner added. “Kinsella has had a recent bout with food poisoning so he was a little weak today, but they both did what we needed them to do at the top of our lineup.”

 

Betterbed has battled injuries throughout his Pilot career, but the junior has been in fine form this year and met his coaches’ expectations by earning all-region honors.

 

“Tommy did exactly what we were hoping for,” Conner said. “This was his first-ever regional, along with three other guys out there today. So for them to be experiencing this for the first time and to only come in behind the No. 1 and No. 3 teams in the nation was a successful showing.”

 

Portland’s other scoring runners were seniors Colin Longmuir (29th, 29:57) and Justin Houck (37th, 30:16), both of which missed the early fall schedule while recovering from injuries.

 

“Longmuir and Houck saved the day for us,” Conner said. “As seniors, their leadership really pulled us through. Going into the race they were slotted as our No. 6 and No. 7 runners, so they made the difference for us today.”

 

The 70th annual NCAA Men’s Cross Country Championships will be held November 24 in Terra Haute, Ind. at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center. The race is scheduled to start at 9:45 a.m. (PST).

 

“We are confident for a top 10 finish at nationals,” Conner added. “I think we have maybe been over-ranked most of the season because of one good event, but if we don’t have anybody blow up, I expect a great performance next week.”

 

 

2008 NCAA Division I West Regional

Stanford Golf Course (Stanford, Calif.)

November 15, 2008

 

Team Scores: 1. Oregon 38, 2. Stanford 72, 3. Portland 85, 4. California 116, 5. Washington 122, 6. UCLA 145, 7. Cal Poly 184, 8. Arizona State 290, 9. Washington State 298, 10. UC Santa Barbara 338, 11. UC Davis 353, 12. Arizona 369, 13. UC Riverside 370, 14. Fresno State 418, 15. Long Beach State 424, 16. San Francisco 451, 17. Loyola Marymount 467, 18. Sacramento State 494, 19. UC Irvine 522, 20. Eastern Washington 565, t21. Santa Clara 584, t21. Boise State 584, 23. Cal State Fullerton 653, 24. Pepperdine 669, 25. Saint Mary’s 683.

 

UP Individuals: 3. Alfred Kipchumba (28:36.02), 4. David Kinsella (28:43.88), 12. Tommy Betterbed (29:20.81), 29. Colin Longmuir (29:57.20), 37. Justin Houck (30:16.96), 62. Mike Quackenbush (31:01.00), 89. Matt Frerker (31:48.03).

 

2008 USTFCCCA All-West Region

Daniel Gonia, Cal Poly

Evan Anderson, Cal Poly

Yosef Ghebray, California

Michael Coe, California

Mark Matusak, California

Paul Limpf, Eastern Washington

Erick Garcia, Fresno State

Galen Rupp, Oregon

Shadrack Kiptoo-Biwott, Oregon

Luke Puskedra, Oregon

Kenny Klotz, Oregon

Diego Mercado, Oregon

Curtis Suver, Oregon

Alfred Kipchumba, Portland

David Kinsella, Portland

Tommy Betterbed, Portland

Chris Derrick, Stanford

Garrett Heath, Stanford

Hakon DeVries, Stanford

Elliott Heath, Stanford

Jake Riley, Stanford

Laef Barnes, UCLA

Drew Shackleton, UCLA

Jeremy Mineau, Washington

Kelly Spady, Washington