November 16, 2013
Noe, Greider Earn All-Region Honors

CLAREMONT, Calif. – A veteran-laden team carried the Linfield women to a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Division III West Regional Championships, matching the squad's performance from a season ago. Over on the men's side, the Wildcats took 14th overall Saturday morning at Pomona-Pitzer College.

Placing in the Top 35 in the women's 6,000-meter competition, Siena Noe and Hannah Greider capped off their collegiate cross country careers with a pair of all-region performances. Noe, who was 20th as the No. 1 Linfield finisher, clocked in at 23 minutes, 8.83 seconds. Greider was seven positions back in 23:17.22.

Siena Noe battles with the leaders at the 2013 West Regional Championships.

“Siena and Hannah had great races,” said head coach Travis Olson. “I am very proud they were able to be all-region as seniors.”

Four of Linfield's five scoring runners registered career-best efforts at the regional championship meet, including Katie Skinner and Claire Hann. Skinner took 40th (23:37.72) and was followed closely behind by Brooke Niemann who was 47th overall (23:49.25). Hann took 58th with a time of 24 minutes, 3.36 seconds.

Seniors Hannah Greider and Siena Noe celebrate their All-Region status.

Freshman Michael O’Neil paced the Wildcat men, whose regional squad included three underclassmen. O'Neil was 39th overall, just missing out on all-region recognition accorded to the top 35 finishers. He completed the 8,000-meter course in 26 minutes, 35.02 seconds.

Linfield, which has battled injury through much of the year, placed 14th in the team standings, including sixth among conference programs. “We gave it everything we had,” Olson said. “They have been a little beat up so it was a little frustrating for them, as we all know we were a better team than how we finished.”

Alex Mangan circled the three loops in 26:39.62 to place 41st, 25 positions better than how he finished as a freshman last year. Linfield's No. 1 runner before suffering an injury weeks before the conference championships, Joe Gladow placed third for the Wildcats and 66th overall (27:08.95).

Adrian Clifford and Calvin Howell rounded out the scoring for Linfield, finishing 77th and 98th overall, respectively. Clifford clocked in at 27 minutes, 24.80 seconds while Howell came in at 28 minutes, 2.16 seconds.

The Wildcats blast from the line along with the rest of the men's field.

Only the top two teams plus the top seven individuals not affiliated with those two teams automatically qualify for the national championship meet so the season is over for the Wildcats. Olson, however, expressed zero disappointment over his team's effort in its final competition of the season. “I really have nothing negative to say about how everyone competed,” Olson said. “We stuck our noses in it so I was very pleased.”