Santiago Gomez-Prosser
Anchorage’s Santiago Gomez-Prosser is headed to the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships with defending national champion Northern Arizona University.
The freshman finished as the Lumberjacks’ seventh runner Friday at the NCAA Mountain Region race in Provo, Utah, where NAU qualified for nationals by virtue of its men’s second-place team finish behind Brigham Young University.
Gomez-Prosser covered the 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) course at Timpanagos Golf Club in 31 minutes, 39.9 seconds to finish 58th. The former state champion for Dimond High averaged 5:05.8 per mile.
The Lumberjacks are ranked No. 1 in the nation. BYU was ranked No. 8.
The Lumberjacks have won four of the last five national championships, with BYU interrupting that streak with its 2019 team win.
The national championship race is Saturday, Nov. 20, in Tallahassee, Florida.
In other Division I regional competition Friday, former Juneau-Douglas standout Sadie Tuckwood finished as the fourth runner for the Gonzaga women and helped them to a fourth-place team finish at the West Region in Sacramento, Calif.
Tuckwood, a freshman, clocked 20:47.9 for the 6-kilometer (3.72-mile) race at Oaks Golf Complex to finish 39th overall. She averaged 5:34.5 per mile and ran a blistering final 800 meters to move up 10 spots in that stretch.
Former South High runner Lucy Young finished third among William & Mary’s women at the Southeast Region in Louisville, Ky. Young, a freshman, clocked 22:42.4 on the 6-K course at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park. She averaged 6:05.4 per mile.
Former Anchorage Christian Schools runner Blake Bennett started the West Region race for the Grand Canyon University men and ran most of the 10-K, according to race tracking, but did not finish.