The cloudy skies and chilly air of the Pacific Northwest could not slow down the Bulldog Cross Country team during the NCAA Division III West Regional Championships.
The race took place on Saturday, Nov. 16, at Milo McIver State Park in Estacada, Oregon. There were 174 runners in each of the two races, with the 6K women’s race starting at 10 a.m. and the 8k men’s race following one hour later.
The Lady Bulldogs placed sixth out of 25 teams, with all five scoring individuals finishing among the top 80. Chloe Bullock ‘25 placed 14th with a time of 21:42.5, while Eve Mavy ‘26 was right there with her at 21:48.0 for a 16th place finish. Along with beating her personal best by 32 seconds, Mavy claimed the fourth fastest 6K time in Redlands Women’s Cross Country history.
“It felt like the whole season was building up to this,” Mavy said. “My mantra during the whole race was, ‘My team is a force field around me.”
Like Mavy, Bullock commented on how her team has been instrumental to her success.
“I have found that relying on my team makes racing easier,” Bullock said. “When I know that my teammates are working hard behind me, I want to work harder for them.”
The men’s team finished 12 out of 24 teams with an average time of 25:53 and all five scoring individuals within the top 90. Ronan Byrne ‘25 led the pack at 24:54.5 for a 23rd place finish, which was both a new personal best and the sixth fastest time in program history.
“It was a cold one and the footing wasn’t great, but I took a risk and it paid off,” Byrne said. “Running sub-25 [finishing under 25 minutes] had been a goal of mine since last season, so to end my career by finally achieving it was a special feeling.”
Placing among the top 35 individuals, Bullock, Mavy and Byrne all earned All-West Regional selections. This is the fourth recognition for Bullock and second recognition for both Mavy and Byrne.
At noon the next day, it was announced that Bullock and Mavy were among the seven individuals from the West Region to qualify for the NCAA Division III National Championships. This will be the third national meet for Bullock and the first for Mavy.
“I am so excited and blessed to be able to enjoy this final cross-country race,” Bullock said.
Mavy said qualifying for nationals has always been a goal of hers and one she believed was within reach, yet it still took her by surprise.
“It’s surreal,” she said. “I’m excited like a kid before Christmas.”
Bullock and Mavy’s advancement to the national championship is not just an individual accomplishment, but an accomplishment for the Bulldog program as well. It has been three years since multiple Redlands athletes qualified for the National Cross Country meet, with Tucker Cargile and Isabella Glenn qualifying in 2021. The last time Redlands sent multiple female athletes was back in 2014 with Lauren Roberts and Della Lyle. The opportunity to compete on a national stage with a fellow teammate is something both Bullock and Mavy are grateful for.
“I am stoked to have Eve coming with me,” Bullock said. “I am so proud of her and am ecstatic that we will be traveling together.”
The NCAA Division III National Championships will be held at the LaVern Gibson Championship XC Course in Terra Haute, Indiana, on Saturday, Nov. 23. The women’s race will start at 11 a.m. ET and the men’s race at noon, both being live streamed on the NCAA website.
Correction: One instance of Byrne was misspelled but had since been fixed
McKenzie Rose is a freshman at Redlands with interests in Environmental Studies and Journalism. She worked for the last three years as a freelance journalist with the Hermiston Herald, a newspaper near her hometown of Echo, Oregon. She is looking forward to covering the interesting, the exciting, and the intriguing happenings at the university for the Redlands Bulldog!
