ESTACADA, Ore. -- With a place at nationals on the line, the George Fox cross country teams competed in the NCAA West Regional; the men placed third, while the women finish fourth, giving the Bruins hope at a possible nationals spot for both teams.

Top Performers 
As has been the case for much of the season, the men's side was led by runner Austin Gappa, who earned an All-Region honor by placing in third place overall and first for the Bruins with a PR 8k time of 24:11.7. 

The lone other All-Region runner for the men was Alex Mills, who placed 13th overall and second for Fox with a time of 24:34.3. Closely behind Mills was a group of three Bruins — Caden Hildenbrand, Andrew Ross, and Aidan Arthur. Hildenbrand came in 37th place overall with a time of 25:16.1, Ross in 38th at  25:17.9 and Arthur in 39th with a 25:22.2. 

Adam Petersen had a time of 25:27 and came in 44th place overall, with Gabriel Lachenmeier clocking in at 25:32.5 and came in 47th place. As a team, the Bruins finished in third, behind Claremont-Mudd-Scipps and Pomona-Pitzer.

After heading into the region ranked fifth in the region, the women placed in fourth overall. Breanna Schmitt was the lead runner for Fox, recording a PR of 21:16.7 and placed in sixth. 

Fox had two other All-Region runners alongside Schmitt in Ellie Rising and Hope Bridge; Rising came in 24th with a time of 22:00.3 while Bridge came in right behind Rising with a time of 22:00.4. Sarah Pullen came in 36th place and had a time of 22:28.9 with Hannah Tranby coming in next clocking in with a time of 22:47.2. Annalise Gonzales came in next with a time of 23.15.5. Karina Rodriguez rounded out the Bruins with a time of 23:23.2.

As a team, the Bruins finished in fourth place, ahead of the third-ranked team in the region, Pomona-Pitzer. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps upset No. 2 Colorado College to win the West Regional.

What It Means
The Bruins will wait for word on nationals. Selections will take place at noon on Sunday, November 17. Neither team has earned an automatic bid to the championship race — only to top two finishing teams from each regional earn an auto-bid — but Austin Gappa and Breanna Schmitt have clinched at least a trip to Nationals as individuals thanks to top-seven finishes. 

What Comes Next
Should the Bruins qualify, Nationals will take place on Saturday, November 23 at 11:00 a.m. in Terra Haute, Ind.