Jackson Brainerd came from behind in the last five meters to win the NCAA Division III West Regional Meet on Saturday morning in Claremont, Calif. 

Brainerd covered the 8,000-meter course on the Pomona College campus in a time 25:26.65 and won by .016 of a second over Occidental's Eric Kleinsasser.

He is the third Tiger to win the West Regional, but the first to do it as a sophomore. Scott Kang won the event in 1986 and Julian Boggs was the individual champion 20 years later in 2006.

CC finished third in the team standings with 91 points, just two better than Whitworth College which was fourth with 93.

Dan Kraft finished 18th overall in a time of 26:24.03, just one spot ahead of Andrew Wagner who clocked in at 26:26.00.

The Tigers had another inter-squad battle with David Wilder claiming 29th place in a time of 26:57.19, just 1.55 seconds ahead of Max Gerken who was 30th in 26:58.74. 

All five earned all-region honors by placing among the top 35 competitors.

Michael Dougan came home in a time of 27:41.34 for 47th place, while Andrew Vierra finished 73rd with a time of 28:44.01.  

A total of 104 runners representing twenty programs from California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington competed in the event.

Claremont College won the team title with 50 points, followed by Willamette University with 50.

The top two teams from each of eight regions earn automatic berths in the National meet, which takes place next Saturday at Highland Golf Course in Cleveland, Ohio. The NCAA Committee selects 16 additional at-large teams based on their performance at regional meets.

Seven individuals from each region who were not part of qualifying teams also will be invited to the national meet.