MONMOUTH, Ore. - Robert Peterson finished 13^th overall at the NCAA Division II west region championships on the 10,000 meter course at the Ash Creek Preserve on the campus of Western Oregon University Saturday.
 
Finishing in the same overall spot as last year, but one out of the individual places qualifying for the national meet, Peterson covered the distance in 30:15.08, lowering his time from last season by close to 45 seconds. He was the fourth runner to cross the finish line not on a qualifying team while just three individuals advance to the national stage. One spot ahead of the senior from Billings, Mont., went to the final individual advancing to the NCAA national race.
 
This is the second consecutive all-region honor for Peterson.
 
"It's hard to see that Robert missed it by so little," MSUB head coach Dave Coppock said. "He was making up a lot of ground in the last few meters and was really gaining on the runner in front of him. I think if he would have had a few more meters, he would have gotten him, but he ran a great race. This was probably his personal best on the 10,000 meters and that is all you can ask for."
 
Overall, MSU Billings placed 10^th out of 23 teams from the west region.  The 'Jackets were the fourth finishing school from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference - placing one spot above where the team placed at the conference meet two weeks ago.
 
"The team ran fantastic," Coppock said. "We were the fourth GNAC institution which is really important because we were fifth at the conference and today we beat out Western Oregon who we lost too earlier."
 
Behind Peterson, junior Garrett Love was 40^th overall clocking in a time of 31:12.72. GNAC Newcomer of the Year Matt Winter was 56^th in the race finishing in 31:36.59. Freshman Tyus Mendoza was 90^th and sophomore Mark Hovland placed 92^nd in 32:28.01. Completing the Yellowjacket team, Jorey Egeland was close behind Hovland, ending the race in 94^th place in 32:29.88 while freshman Ivan Colmenero was 150^th in 34:20.96.
 
"They all really came through," Coppock said on the team's performance. "They all ran really well at the same time and we beat some pretty good schools out there, so I was really happy with the men's team. Every runner from 1-7 did a great job peaking at the right time. They did everything right this season in training for a 10K and the team was really passing a lot of runners in the last 600 meters, which is what we expected. It is great when that happens - when you can see that what you've been planning has worked out."
 
From Alaska Anchorage Henry Cheseto and Dominik Notz finished first and second for the second year in a row.  Cheseto earned his second individual championship in a time of 29:29.82, three seconds ahead of his teammate.
 
With 55 team points and their top-5 runners among the top-25 overall finishers, the Seawolves won the team championship. Also qualifying for the national meet on Nov. 21 in Joplin, Mo., were California Collegiate Athletic Association champion Chico State along with Cal Poly Pomona and Simon Fraser. Chico State edged Cal Poly Pomona by two points (79-81) for second place.  Simon Fraser ended up fourth with 107 points.
 
Individual qualifiers included Valentin Pepiot of Academy Art (4th, 29:53.83), David Ribich of Western Oregon (11th, 30:11.95) and Pierre Fontanarosa of Academy of Art (12th, 30:13.91).
 
The top-25 individual runners earn all-region honors. In addition to UAA's six, Chico earned four slots on the all-region team. Cal Poly Pomona and Simon Fraser each placed three athlete on the all-region team and Academy of Art had two.
 
The finish puts the Yellowjackets in the top-10 in the west region to finish out the season. Coach Coppock sees a lot of growth in all the runners and looks for it to be good momentum for the student-athletes as they now gear up for track and field season.
 
MSU Billings men's cross country team:

Place	Name	Time
13	Robert Peterson	30:15.08
40	Garrett Love	31:12.72
56	Matt Winter	31:36.59
90	Tyus Mendoza	32:24.65
92	Mark Hovland	32:28.01
94	Jorey Egeland	32:29.88
150	Ivan Colmenero	34:20.96

 Note: Next year, the NCAA west region race returns to Billings, Mont., as the top teams will be competing on the course at Amend Park in south Billings.