PROVO, Utah – Nov. 12 – Cameron Levins will advance to the NCAA Division I Championship after racing to a second place finish at the Mountain Region Championship today. Fellow T-Birds Nate Jewkes and Diana Medina-Mitchell are also in the running to continue to Nationals.
“For us to be where we're at against such big schools really speaks volumes of the athletes we have,” head coach Eric Houle. “To have an athlete with a shot at the top ten in the nation is huge for the school, huge for Cam and huge for what we're trying to do.”
Levins crossed the finish line only two seconds behind BYU's Miles Batty, recording a time of 30:11.5 and earning a solid place in the national meet.
“Going to Nationals will be really cool,” Levins said. “I haven't tapered or anything and I'm really looking to do well at that race.”
Jewkes followed with an 18th-place time of 31:07.7, which will most likely earn him a trip to the national championship. Freshman Austin West finished third for the Thunderbirds with a time of 31:46.3. Clinton Rhoton (32:22.5) and Devan Antczak (32:30.8) rounded out the score with 59th- and 66th-place respective finishes.
The Thunderbirds' fifth-place score of 187 put them ahead of Big Sky competitors Weber State, Montana State, Montana, and Idaho State , as well as Utah State and the Air Force Academy. BYU, Colorado and Northern Arizona swept the top three with respective scores of 49, 55 and 69 points.
“When you look at where the girls finished, we ran really well,” Coach Houle continued. “It is such a competitive region and we're not that far from the top six in the region.”
Medina-Mitchell led the women to an 11th-place finish in the 6k with a 10th-place finish and time of 21:16.0. Her time may also qualify for a spot at the national meet, depending on how the rest of the regional meets turn out.
Jamie Smith and Madalyn Jones followed in 51st and 61st place with respective times of 22:37.4 and 22.50.0. Danielle West (23:13.8) and Steffi Minson (23:44.9) rounded out the score in 78th and 99th place respectively.
The women's team finished ahead of the Air Force Academy, Montana State, Montana, Utah State and Utah Valley with 299 total points. New Mexico and Colorado tied for first with 84 points with Weber State in third with 135 points.
Those who qualified will travel to Terre Haute, Ind. to compete in the national championship on Nov. 21.
