2023 NCAA Division II West Regional Championship Results
MONMOUTH, Ore. – Both crossing the finish line inside the top 20 at the NCAA Division II West Regional Championship, Academy of Art women's cross country's redshirt sophomore
Katharina Goetschl and junior
Grace Southern impressed as All-Region Team honorees at Ash Creek Preserve on Saturday.
Starting off in close proximity to one another, Southern was 14th with Goetschl less than a second behind in 18th through the first 2k of the 6k race. The gap between the duo narrowed further past the halfway mark as both made moves up where Southern was now in 10th and Goetschl 0.10 seconds behind in 11th. Down the stretch, Goetschl held her position, taking 12th out of 164 runners overall with a new season-best of 21:20.5 while Southern posted her second-fastest time of the season at 21:29.0 to finish 17th overall.
Goetschl (21:20.5) joined Southern (20:58.6),
Jenny Bergren (21:01.6), and
Hasna Kaarour (21:05.0) as the program's new top four fastest 6k times with the effort, bettering
Natalia Novak (21:20.7) for the fourth spot. The Oberndorf an der Melk, Austria native and Southern, however, represent the two Urban Knights among that group to have their top marks come outside of NCAA Nationals.
Individually, Goetschl's 12th place result also saw her end as the fifth finisher from the PacWest while Southern's 17th place finish had her eighth among PacWest runners as both Knights bettered their placements from the conference meet.
The teams automatically qualifying to NCAA Nationals were Western Washington (75), Biola (86), and Chico State (132) while the race's overall winner was Kendall Kramer (20:29.8) of Alaska Fairbanks who, along with Sonoma State's Gianna Bomarito (20:50.3), ensured their spots in the season's final meet.
For those who qualify following Monday's at-large selection announcement, NCAA Division II Nationals will be held on Nov. 18 at Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course in Joplin, Mo.
