SACRAMENTO, Calif.---Zak Kirk, Jonas Gertsen, Stan Niesten, and Jacob Klemz each earned All-West Region accolades after finishing in the Top-25 at the NCAA West Regional meet, and the 30th-ranked Pilots men's cross country team finished in third place by defeating three higher-ranked opponents on the day. All of Portland's seven runners also collected new personal bests in the 10K event held at Haggin Oaks Golf Complex on Friday morning.
 
Kirk clocked in first for the Pilots men at 29:47.6 to collect 10th-place overall, making his move during the fourth and fifth splits to pass 11 runners. Gertsen rolled in just after in 29:58.7 to secure 11th, and held position with the front group for the entirety of the race.
 
Niesten came in next with a time of 30:09.2 to nab 16th-place individually, and Klemz followed suit in 30:20.5 to land in 25th-place.
 
George Duggan strode in at 30:28.2, good for 32nd-place, to close out all scorers for the Portland squad.
 
Bradley Peloquin (30:55.3)—who led the team at the first mile mark—and Leo Donlea (31:05.7), finished in the 50th and 55th place spots, respectively.

"The guys really ran tough today and we are very proud of them," said head coach Rob Conner. "Going in we knew we had to have a good one, but we always do well at Regionals so that wasn't wishful thinking. For the most part we executed a perfect team race. It feels good."

Portland now awaits the 2021 cross country championship selections for an at-large bid to the NCAA national meet, set to be announced tomorrow, Saturday, November 13th at 2 p.m. (PT)
 
Team Results—10K
1. No. 5 Stanford (61)
2. No. 13 Washington (66)
3. No. 30 Portland (94)
4. No. 16 Oregon (100)
5. No. 15 Gonzaga (107)
6. No. 20 Boise State (115)
7. Washington State (244)
8. Portland State (295)
9. Santa Clara (372)
10. UC Santa Barbara (375)
11. Cal St. Fullerton (395)
12. UCLA (398)
13. Idaho (405)
14. Saint Mary's (407)
15. Cal Poly (414)
16. Grand Canyon (424)
17. Arizona State (451)
18. California (471)
19. Loyola Marymount (537)
20. UC Davis (567)
21. San Francisco (573)
22. Eastern Washington (584)
23. Long Beach St. (611)
24. Pepperdine (617)
25. UC Irvine (623)
26. CSUN (690)
27. UC Riverside (725)
28. San Diego (739)
29. Seattle U (880)
 
Portland Individual Men
10. Zak Kirk* (29:47.6) PR
11. Jonas Gertsen* (29:58.7) PR
16. Stan Niesten* (30:09.2) PR
25. Jacob Klemz* (30:20.5) PR
32. George Duggan (30:28.2) PR
50. Bradley Peloquin (30:55.3) PR
55. Leo Donlea (31:05.7) PR
 
*All-West Region Honors