Tech's Humberston to Compete in NAIA Cross Country Championship this Saturday

Korey Humberston (L) is making a third-straight trip to the NAIA National Championship.

VANCOUVER, Wash. -The 2009 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Men's and Women's Cross Country National Championships are scheduled for Nov. 21 in Vancouver, Wash. The event will take place at the Fort Vancouver Historical Site and hosted by the Cascade Collegiate Conference and Concordia University-Portland. This marks the first year for the event in Vancouver -- Kenosha, Wis., was the site for the Championships the previous two years.

The Cross Country National Championships are free and open to the public. The men's race begins at 10:30 a.m. PST, and the women's race starts at approximately 11:45 a.m. PST. Fort Vancouver Historical Site, located near Portland, Ore., is a unique, historic and challenging competition venue that boasts a successful record for hosting world class cross country championship events, including USA Men's and Women's Cross Country National Championships and World Cross Country Trials.

Oregon Tech junior Korey Humberston will be making a third-straight NAIA national championship appearance for the Owls to the NAIA event. In 2007 Humberston was the Cascade Conference individual champion, placed 16th at the Region I meet and finished 110th at the national championship in Kenosha, Wis. In 2008 Humberston placed 6th at the Cascade Conference meet and 52nd at the NAIA championships. Humberston received an at-large berth to this year's NAIA national meet after placing 7th at the CCC meet, covering the 8K course in 25:09.

Thirty-two women's teams, including 23 conference/independent/unaffiliated champions, two conference runners-up, six at-large bids, one host berth and 117 individual qualifiers, will run in the 5,000-meter race. Azusa Pacific (Calif.) captured its first women's cross country title last year.

The men's 8,000-meter race will also welcome 32 teams, including 22 conference/independent/unaffiliated champions, eight at-large bids, one conference runner-up, one host berth and 102 individual qualifiers. Malone (Ohio) will look to claim its third-consecutive men's national title.

Fans attending the National Championships are encouraged to park in designated areas along Fifth Street (south side of the park) or at Hudson's Bay High School, which is located within walking distance of Fort Vancouver Historical Site.

Lady Owls Knock Off Redhawks 70-54

Brittany Cherry Had a Career High 18 Points Leading Tech to a 70-54 Win (Photo by Kelly Caleb)

REDDING, Calif. - The Oregon Tech women's basketball team beat Simpson University 70-54 limiting the Redhawks to just 18 first half points. Tech improved to 3-4 on the season winning its second in a row. Simpson drops to 0-8 with the loss.

The Lady Owls held a 38-18 lead at the half as Kelsey New (Winston, OR) had 11 of her 13 points in the first half. Five of those eleven came on one play as she hit a three point shot and was fouled as the ball made its way through the hoop. The official ruled that the foul came after the bucket, New hit both free throws to convert the rare 5 point play.

Simpson came out of the break on fire hitting three consecutive three point shots to start the half on a 9-0 run. Tech answered with back-to-back buckets to push the lead to 16 but Simpson came firing back and trimmed the Tech lead to 9 points hitting two more three balls with just over 11 minutes to play. Simpson hit 7 of 12 long balls in half.

The Lady Owls stayed focused and kept feeding the ball to Brittany Cherry (Pasco, WA) and Jazzy McDaniel (Alameda, CA) in the block as the two combined for 28 points and 21 rebounds. McDaniel finished with 10 points and a team high 15 rebounds both career highs. Cherry also finished with a career high 18 points.

Oregon Tech out rebounded the Redhawks 43-21.

The Lady Owls shot 48% from the floor on 25 of 52 for the game including 5-13 from long distance. Simpson was held to 32% from the floor, hitting on19 of 60 shots and 8 of 19 from long range.

The Lady Owls will travel to Newberg, Oregon to take on the Defending NCAA Division III National Champions George Fox University starting at 3pm. The game will be broadcast on 960 KLAD-AM in Klamath Falls, Oregon and anywhere in the world at www.oitsports.com.