BELMONT, Calif. --- The University of Portland men’s cross country team claimed its 28th consecutive West Coast Conference title Saturday morning, placing four runners in the top five to win the meet convincingly. Sophomore Mike Quackenbush (pictured) took home the individual title with a time of 25:19.
Complete meet results can be seen by following this link.
“Quackenbush had his best race in college,” head coach Rob Conner said. “He ran a fantastic time—one of the best we’ve had at this course.”
Only five Pilot runners have won the meet with a faster time.
Portland finished the meet with 24 overall points, well ahead of second-place San Francisco’s 63 and third-place Santa Clara’s 75.
“We’re happy to come away with a win,” head coach Rob Conner said. “It’s a very difficult course and it’s not that easy to win the WCC. We definitely don’t take it for granted.”
Senior Brendan Robinson finished third overall with a time of 25:52, followed by freshman Tommy Betterbed, who placed crossed the line in fourth place in 25:55. Betterbed earned WCC Freshman of the Year honors as a result of his finish. Junior Steven Ault (5th, 25:57) was next for the Pilots, followed by sophomores Kevin Krohn (11th, 26:13), Derek Mandell (16th, 26:68) and Rob Schlegel (25th, 26:58).
“I really liked the efforts of Brendan Robinson and Steven Ault,” Conner said. “Both ran their final races for our team, and they ran very, very well.”
Ault, a junior according to eligibility, is academically a senior and will be graduating at the end of the year.
Senior Joe Miller of Gonzaga, who finished in second place with a time of 25:28, was the only non-Pilot runner to finish in the top five as he and Quackenbush separated themselves from the pack in the early going and dueled for the conference title. Miller took the lead early in the race, but Quackenbush was able to hang close and pass him in the closing stretch with strong kick, pushing Portland’s streak of winning WCC individual title to 28 years.
Rounding out the team finishers were Gonzaga in fourth with 84 points, Loyola Marymount with 105, Pepperdine with 177, San Diego with 203 and Saint Mary’s with 242.
Next up for the Pilots is the NCAA West Regional, which Portland will host on Nov. 11 at Blue Lake Park in Gresham, Ore. Portland is currently ranked No. 11 overall and No. 4 in the west region. Portland held its top runners out of the WCC Championship to help save them for the regional meet.
“We accomplished our individual goal at the meet today,” Conner said. “We found out who is going to run with us at regionals. Quackenbush showed today that he can really contribute, and he should hopefully have plenty of confidence going in and help the team.”
