Heading into the NCAA West Regional Cross Country Championship, Whittier College's men's team is all but certain to move far ahead of their No. 32 national ranking after a strong showing at the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) championship.
The NCAA West Regional will be held November 12 in Salem, Oregon.
The Purple & Gold has much to be proud of going into next week's championship. On Saturday, the Whittier College team raced to a top-half SCIAC finish for the fifth consecutive year, placing third of the nine member schools. The Poets closed in the later stages of the 8000-meter race and came close to stealing the conference title from heavily favored Pomona-Pitzer (No. 6 ranked) and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (No. 16 ranked).
"It figured to be a hard fought battle," said Cross Country Coach Jim O'Brien, "and our kids were ready to fight."
Julian Sandoval '19 led the team and the field at Prado Regional Park with his best career finish by winning the individual title, while earning SCIAC Runner-of-the-Year honors and taking down a 17-year old course record at the same time.
Click here to read more about the College's successes at the SCIAC championships.
