Claremont-Mudd Scripps Women, Pomona-Pitzer Men Continue to Build Momentum Heading into NCAA Division 3 Championships in Kentucky

By Landon Negri for DyeStat

The cross country programs from Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer have traded punches all season.

It made sense that the back-and-forth continued Saturday, and it will continue right into the NCAA Division 3 Championships.

RESULTS | INTERVIEWS | PHOTOS

Pomona-Pitzer’s men and the C-M-S women both earned their third consecutive regional championships on the looping course at Pomona College, though both programs and both genders earned the two automatic berths to the NCAA Division 3 Championships on Nov. 23 at E.P Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville, Ky.

Pomona-Pitzer sophomore Ethan Widlansky won the individual title on the 8-kilometer, tree-lined course in 25 minutes, 0.7 seconds, with Whitman College junior Whitney Rich closing fast to win the women’s 6-kilometer race in in 21:12.

The victory avenged a narrow loss for the Pomona-Pitzer men to C-M-S in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference finals Nov. 2 when the Sagehens fell on a tiebreaker. No such criterium was needed Saturday, as Pomona-Pitzer tallied 33 points to 43 for C-M-S. Third-place UC Santa Cruz scored 102.

C-M-S is ranked No. 3 in the nation, while Pomona-Pitzer is No. 5.

“It’s really exciting for our program to be going up in the rankings year after year,” Widlansky said. “It’s just a really exciting time to be on the team. It’s a young team, so there’s a lot of growth to be had, even from where we are right now.”

Two weeks ago, Widlansky was the runner-up in the SCIAC Championship on the same course to C-M-S’ Thomas D’Anieri, who didn’t run Saturday, as teammates said he was sick.

In the final third of the race, Widlansky broke the front pack and charged ahead, finishing strong to win. Redlands junior Tucker Cargile was second in 25:14.5 and C-M-S junior Stevie Steinberg finished third in 25:16.8.

“The goal was to, essentially from the get-go, to be top five or win if (I was) feeling good,” Widlansky said. “I always tell myself to make it through the first 5K and see what’s left. And I had a little more left than I thought I did.”

He purposely waited to make his move with about a kilometer to go.

“I went earlier at SCIAC, about a couple of miles left, and I burned out pretty quickly,” he said. “I don’t have a kick. I can’t kick for my life, so I usually go a little early.”

The top seven individuals not on a qualifying team are eligible for at-large berths to be awarded Sunday.

Cargile was the top such qualifier from the West Region, he qualified to nationals as the region’s seventh-place finisher a year ago.

“I knew the SCIAC guys were going to be toward the front, and we wanted it that way, just kind of packing up with guys I’ve raced the whole year,” Cargile said. “So it was pretty comfortable being out in the front with those guys.

“We knew what we had to do,” he added. “I didn’t feel like we were ever really pushing it; just kind of keeping it easy and trying to qualify. But it felt pretty good today.”

A trio of CMS runners followed – Steinberg (third, 25:16.8) and sophomores Kyril van Schendel (fourth, 25:17.8) and Miles Christensen (fifth, 25:23.4).

But Pomona-Pitzer, paced by sophomore Owen Keiser (sixth, 25:25.5), juniors Hugo Ward (eighth, 25:31.2) and Ethan Ashby (tie for 10th, 25:41.4), and sophomore Dante Paszkeicz (tie for 10th, 25:41.4), was able to get all five scorers in before C-M-S’ fourth runner, and that made a huge scoring difference.

“We’re really excited,” Keiser said. “We’re aiming to be a trophy team at nationals.”

Puget Sound sophomore Colin Monaghan earned at-large qualification by placing seventh in 25:30.6. Lewis and Clark senior Sean Richardson was the other top-10 finisher to qualify, placing ninth in 25:36.1.

UC Santa Cruz senior Paul Colosi (13th, 25:47.6) and freshman Hayden Johnson (15th, 25:48.5) will join them, as Santa Cruz’s third-place team finish earned an at-large team berth to nationals, since the team is ranked 34th nationally.

Securing individual men’s automatic berths from Saturday were Colorado College senior Tony Calderon (14th, 25:48.2), Caltech senior Simon Ricci (17th, 25:54.4), Occidental sophomore Matt Scarlett (20th,. 26:13.8) and La Verne junior Matthew Salas (21st, 26:15.6).

For the women. Rich’s victory came from a eye-popping finishing kick.

Rich, Pomona-Pitzer’s Lila Cardillo and teammate Helen Guo, the defending regional champion, battled for positioning on a front pack for much of the race. With less than a half-mile remaining, Rich shifted into the finishing gear and quickly turned the 6-kilometer regional into a rout, winning by 18 seconds over Cardillo.

Rich said she heard another coach yelling, “Let’s turn it into a track race.”

“And I said, ‘OK, I love track,’” Rich said. “And so with about 400-500 (meters) to go, I took off and gave it everything I could in that last bit.”

It was her fourth consecutive victory, coming off wins at the Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational on Oct. 5, the Lewis and Clark Invite on Oct. 19 and at the Northwest Conference Championship two weeks ago.

She also earned her first berth into the NCAA Championships.

“It feels amazing,” she said. “I never imagined this would happen.”

Rich said she was driven by what she felt was a sub-par performance with a 28th-place finish at Pomona College two years ago in the West Regional.

“I learned from that race that I just need to have confidence in the process and my teammates,” she said.

Cardillo settled for the runner-up spot in 21:29.6 and Guo took third in 21:40.7.

Sophomore Riley Harmon led the way for C-M-S’ victory, placing fourth in 22:17.0. Two of her teammates joined her in the top 10, junior Abby Johnson was eighth in 22:41.1 and junior Olivia Gleason was 10th in 22:47.2.

She also likes where the momentum from Saturday's win might take her team, which is ranked No. 10 nationally in Division 3. Pomona Pitzer is No. 17.

“I feel really good about it,” she said. “That pack that is right behind me every single race just work together phenomenally. They’re able to stick together the entire race and move up and pass people"

Four more qualifications for at-large berths came from the top 10. Redlands senior Maria Ramirez placed fifth in 22:23.4, followed by Whitworth freshman Becky George (sixth, 22:24.4), Occidental senior Sabrina Thurber (seventh, 22:34.1), and Caltech junior Claire Hu (ninth, 22:45.1).

The remaining automatic berths were achieved by Occidental junior Kayla Lim (11th, 22:49.8) and Whitman senior Kristen Wanke (12th, 22:58).