Trevor Dunbar is now one of the elite runners in the nation — and one of the best Alaska has ever produced.

Dunbar placed third at the Footlocker Cross Country Western Regionals Saturday on the Mt. San Antonio College course in Walnut, Calif.

The top-10 finish qualifies the Kodiak senior for the 30th Footlocker National finals on Dec. 13 in San Diego. The race features 40 of the best runners in the nation.

Dunbar joins West Anchorage’s Miguel Gomez (1992) as the only Alaskan boys ever to qualify for the national race.

Dunbar finished the 5-kilometer hilly course in 15 minutes, 43 seconds.

Christopher Schwartz of Bakersfield, Calif, took first in 15:38 and Brian Shrader of Flagstaff, Ariz. was second in 15:42.

Dunbar, who led for the majority of the race, lost the lead going down the last big hill.

“He pretty much looked like had the race in control,” said Kodiak coach Marcus Dunbar via a cell phone in California. “He kept the pace honest.”

Heading into the race, Trevor Dunbar’s goal was to qualify for the national race without excreting all of his energy and he felt like he did that.

“He said he had a good run yesterday and that is a good sign the day after a big race,” Marcus Dunbar said.

This was a payback race for Schwartz. Dunbar beat Schwartz more than a month ago at the Mt. SAC Invitational on the same course.

“Sure I was upset that I lost to (Dunbar), but it just made me work harder to catch him,” Schwartz told Steve Brand of dyestat.com. “The plan was not to work too hard on the hills, to stay with the others.”

Instead, Dunbar a great hill runner pushed the pace up the hills. He took the lead after the first hill, than fell to third on the downhill.

Dunbar retook the lead on the second hill and lead for the next two miles before Schwartz and Schrader passed him. Dunbar never recovered, but it didn’t matter. He achieved his goal.

“I was pleased with the race,” said Marcus Dunbar, his father. “He said he felt good. Schwartz was happy to win it, but Trevor was happy with third.”

Trevor Dunbar is staying in Chico, Calif., with his brother Miles Dunbar this week. Today, they are running at Huntington Beach.

Kodiak’s Sam Salus finished 42nd in the same race with a time of 16:41.