SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Milaina Almonte became the Santa Clara University women's cross country team's first all-region honoree in 16 years and the Broncos climbed six spots from the year before with a strong performance Friday in the 2025 NCAA West Region Championship hosted at the Arcade Creek Cross Country Course.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Almonte placed 20th Friday in 20 minutes, 15.8 seconds, over the 6-kilometer course to earn all-region distinction. It's the best individual finish by a Bronco and the first all-region honor for the Santa Clara women's team since Stephanie Wilson placed sixth in 2009. She was the sixth individual from the West Coast Conference, just like she was two weeks ago when she earned all-WCC recognition.
   
• Almonte made her move at the three-mile mark, passing five runners over the final 0.6 miles to crack the top-20. Her 20:15.8 time was her second-fastest time of the year after running 20:06.5 on Oct. 18 to win the Bronco Invitational.
   
• Sarah Guralnick gave the Broncos two finishers among the top-100 with an 89th-place showing in 21:35.8. Sydney Lim was Santa Clara's No. 3 runner in 125th place with a time of 22:04.4. Julia Russo (183rd, 22:37.9) and Alyssa Wyatt (208th, 23:09.1) rounded out the Broncos' scoring.
   
• Aliyah Yearian placed 227th in 23:29.1. Heidi Green also competed Friday for the Broncos.
   
• Santa Clara scored 625 points as a team, narrowly missing the top-20 by three points behind Utah Tech (622). The Broncos took down WCC foe Portland and Power-4 programs Arizona and USC. Their 21st-place finish was the program's best since placing 20th two years ago (2023). It was a six-spot leap from their 27th-place finish a year ago.
   
• Stanford won the NCAA West Region title with 66 points. Oregon claimed the other automatic team qualifying spot for the NCAA National Championship in second place (75 points). Rosemary Longisa of Washington State won the individual title in 19:08.3.