UTAH TECH UNIVERSITY'S STUDENT NEWS SOURCE | March 28, 2024

Chamberlain, Storie pace the Storm in PacWest finale

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Dixie State University cross country went the distance in Southern California Saturday for the Pacific West Conference Championships hosted by California Baptist University.  

The men came out of the event with a sixth-place finish, as Cal Baptist took home the gold. 

Leading the way for the Storm was freshman Hunter Chamberlain, who finished 21st overall and broke the school record in that race with an eight kilometer time of 25:46.83. Chamberlain was subsequently named third team all-conference for the performance. 

“We didn’t anyone finish as high as we were hoping, but we ran so well as a team,” head coach Justin Decker said. “We broke our own record for fastest team cumulative time so that will be something to build on going into regionals.”

Junior runner George Barlow finished in 28th place, about 20 seconds behind Chamberlain, logging a time of 26:04.93. 

Also finishing in the top 40 for the Storm were junior Shi-Quan Nottingham and sophomore Yonas Desta, who crossed the finish line within a second of each other, finishing 39th and 40th respectively. 

As she has all year, junior Skyler Storie led the women’s team with a five-kilometer time of 22:37.77. Her time was good enough for an individual finish of 21st place and another third team all-conference. Freshman Megan Sidwell was the next Storm runner to cross the line, finishing in 36th place.

“Skyler didn’t run her best race,” Decker said. “Her main goal this season was to run well at regionals though, and she still has a chance to do that.” 

No other Storm runner finished in the top 50 at the event, and the team finished ninth out of the 12 teams in attendance. 

Next up for DSU is the NCAA Division II West Regionals in Monmouth, Oregon. Both teams qualified for the event, which begins Nov. 7.