NCAA II National Championships-Men's Results

NCAA II National Championships-Women's Results

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky - Western Washington University's Katelyn Steen (Sr., Sammamish/Eastlake) became just the second runner in school history, man or woman, to place among the top five individually, finishing fifth, and the Viking women were 12th and men 13th in the team standings, bettering their national rankings by six and 10 places, respectively, at the 2014 NCAA Division II National Cross Country Championships held Saturday, Dec. 6, at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park.

"It was amazing to watch them," said WWU coach Pee Wee Halsell (28th year), whose women were ranked 18th and men 23rd in the final U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches/NCAA II Top 25 polls. "I don't think any one of them could do any more ... It was great to see them perform so well. They had confidence in their training and went out and did it."

Both courses were shortened due to extremely wet conditions.

"It was just sprinkling during the race, but we had 1-1/2 inches of rain from Friday on, probably an inch of that after midnight," Halsell said.

Steen completed the 5.78-kilometer women's course in 21:20.8, 15 seconds behind winner Kendra Foley, who led a 1-2-3 finish for national champion Grand Valley State. Ballermine's Emily Frith was fourth in the field of 249 in 21:20.8.

The only WWU runner to place better than Steen at nationals was Sarah Porter, who was second in both 2009 and 2010.

"She went for it right from the beginning and was right with the eventual champion over halfway through the race," said Halsell of Steen, who entered the race as the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and West Regional champion. "She had an amazing race that capped off an incredible cross country career."

The Viking women placed 12th among 32 teams, finishing third among six West Region teams competing after being sixth in the regional meet.

WWU's Taylor Guenther (Jr., Vancouver/Prairie) was 51st in 22:16.4, Haley O'Connor (Sr., Sammamish/Eastlake) 98th in 22:47.6, Austin Reiter (Jr., Camas) 126th in 23:09.4 and Makhaila Thornton (Sr., Bend, OR/Mountain View) 140th in 23:19.6.

"They all had the races of their lives," Halsell said of his top five.

The WWU men were 13th in their 32-team field and second among six participating West Region teams after finishing fourth at regionals. The Vikings were one place better than regional champion Chico State, outpointing the Wildcats, 332 to 371.

Leading WWU as he had at the conference and regional meets was Isaac Griffith (Jr., Spokane/Lewis & Clark), who placed 54th, running the 9.65-kilometer course in 31:45.5.

Sean Eustis (R-Fr., Washougal) was 63rd in 31:54.0, Tabor Reedy (Sr., Poulsbo/North Kitsap) 74th in 32:09.6, Nathan Richards (Sr., Longview/R.A. Long) 94th in 32:24.7 and Isaac Derline (Fr., Kent/Kentridge) 104th in 32:29.6.

Adams State CO took the men's title, led by individual champion Tabor Stevens (30:02.0).

Completing the WWU participants were Jonathan Quimby (Sr., Ferndale), 106th in 32:31.1, and Matt Lutz (So., Bremerton/Olympic), 111th in 32:33.3, for the WWU men; and Brittany Grant (So., Port Townsend), 216th in 24:27.0, and Sofia Marikis (So., Nine Mile Falls/Lakeside), 221st in 24:38.7, for the Viking women.

Steen, who placed 34th at nationals last year, O'Connor and Reedy were all making their third national appearances.

It was the sixth time and second straight for WWU since becoming a full NCAA member in 1998, that both the men's and women's squads were competing together at nationals.

It was the ninth trip overall and eighth straight for the Viking men, who have gone every year since 2007, and the sixth trip in seven seasons and second straight for the WWU women.

Dec. 6 (Sat.) NCAA Division II National Championships - Louisville, Ky. (E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park) - hosts Bellarmine University and Louisville Sports Commission

MEN

TEAM RESULTS (9.65 K) - 1. Adams State 69, 2. Grand Valley State 127, 3. Augustana SD 136, 4.Colorado Mines 144, 5. Western State 185, 6. Alaska Anchorage 196, 7. Southern Indiana 219, 8. Sioux Falls 251, 9. Malone 259, 10. Ashland 274, 11. West Texas A&M 303, 12. Lock Haven 321, 13, Western Washington 332, 14, Chico State 371, 15. Edinboro 390, 16. Cal Poly Pomona 426, 17. Missouri Southern 443, 18. Colorado Mesa 507, 19. Mount Olive 537, 20. Simon Fraser 592, 21. American International 620, 22. Stonehill 629, 23. UC-Colorado Springs 654, 24. Cal Baptist 655, 25. Shippensburg 664, 26. MSU-Moorhead 683, 27. Mars Hill 728, 28. Roberts Wesleyan 753, 29. Florida Southern 786, 30. Queens NC 795, 31. Saint Leo 847, 32. West Alabama 947.

WWU INDIVIDUAL RESULTS - 54. Isaac Griffith 31:45.5, 63. Sean Eustis 31:54.0, 74. Tabor Reedy 32:09.6, 94. Nathan Richards 32:24.7, 104. Isaac Derline 32:29.6, 106. . Jonathan Quimby 32:31.1, 111. Matt Lutz 32:33.3.

TOP 10 - 1. Tabor Stevens, Adams State, 30:02.0; 2. Aaron Dinzeo, California U., 30:19.3; 3. Mike Biwott, American International, 30:26.5; 4. Kevin Batt, Adams State, 30:31.2; 5. Matthew Daniels, Adams State, 30:32.4; 6. Harold Karbo, Augustana SD, 20:40.5; 7. Tyler Pence, Southern Indiana, 30:41.6; 8. Johnnie Guy, Southern Indiana, 30:41.7; 9. Alex Peterson, Grand Valley State, 30:42.4; 10. Andrew Trusty, Malone, 30:55.7. WOMEN

TEAM RESULTS (5.78 K) - 1. Grand Valley State 50, 2. Hillsdale 115, 3. Minnesota-Duluth 118, 4. Adams State 125, 5. Augustana SD 206, 6. Wayne State 219, 7. Simon Fraser 225, 8. Alaska Anchorage 280, 9. Roberts Wesleyan 295, 10. Colorado Mines 342, 11. Malone 350, 12. Western Washington 352, 13. Chico State 353, 14. Bloomsburg 358, 15. Edinboro 397, 16. Western State 419, 17. Winona State 448, 18. Central Washington 461, 19. Stonehill 503, 20. UC-Colorado Springs 512, 21. UC San Diego 516, 22. Colorado Mesa 525, 23. Metropolitan State 555, 24. Shippensburg 571, 25. Montevallo 586, 26. Tampa 659, 27. Missouri Southern 704, 28. Saint Leo 754, 29. Wingate 779, 30. St. Michael's 865, 31. North Georgia 872, 32. Union TN 907.

WWU INDIVIDUAL RESULTS - 5. Katelyn Steen 21:20.8, 51. Taylor Guenther 22:16.4, 98. Haley O'Connor 22:47.6, 126. Austen Reiter 23:09.4, 140. Mikhaila Thornton 23:19.6, 216. Brittany Grant 24:27.0, 221. Sofia Marikis 24:38.7.

TOP 10 - 1. Kendra Foley, Grand Valley State, 21:05.8; 2. Allyson Winchester, Grand Valley State, 21:11.5; 3. Jessica Janeche, Grand Valley State, 21:14.7; 4. Emily Frith, Bellarmine, 21:16.7; 5. Katelyn Steen, Western Washington, 21:20.8; 6. Fiona McKenna, Hawaii Pacific, 21:25.8; 7. Kristina Galat, Hillsdale, 21:26.1; 8. Jenna Thurman, Adams State, 21:26.1; 9. Maura O'Brien, Adams State, 21:26.3; 10. Leah Seivert, Augustana SD, 21:33.0.