Last Saturday, both the men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II West Regional Cross Country Championship in Bellingham, Wash.

The top four teams will advance to the National Championship Nov. 17 at Slippery Rock, Penn. The UCSD men’s team secured its chance to compete by placing fourth out of 18 teams, behind UC Davis, Cal State Chico and University of Alaska, Anchorage.

The women’s team finished the event 12th out of 21 teams and will be unable to advance to the championships.

Junior Christian Madsen from Hawaii Pacific University won the individual competition with a time of 32:07 for the 10,000-meter course.

For the Tritons, junior Alan Shapiro posted the fastest time with 33:05 to place 18th overall in the field of over 120 runners. Sophomore Neil Kalra was the second fastest Triton, coming in 23rd with a time of 33:17. David Dunbar, Stephen Martin, Julian Nahan, John Morrison and Grant Guenther placed 26th, 30th, 31st, 36th and 46th, respectively, as every UCSD runner finished within the top 50.

Hawaii Pacific’s Nina Christensen took the women’s individual title, running the 6-kilometer course in 21:37. It was her second regional title, the first one being in 1999.

Junior Audrey Sung was the top UCSD finisher, coming in 25th with freshman Lindsay Stalker right behind her at 27th, running the course in 23:18 and 23:27, respectively.

Lillian Gardiner, Lindsey Young, Julie Pope, Mary Peate and Grace Sousa all placed in the top 100 for the Tritons.

The women’s teams advancing to the finals include UC Davis, Humboldt State University, Cal State Chico and Sonoma State University.

After both UC Davis teams swept the regionals, Aggies coaches Sue Williams and Jim Hunt were each named Regional Coach of the Year for the men’s and women’s divisions. Each individual first-place finalist was given Athlete of the Year honors.