Oct. 24, 2015 Results
BELLINGHAM, Wash. -- The Western Washington University Cross Country teams placed 2nd (women's team in 6k race) and 3rd (men's team in 8k race) in the 2015 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships held Saturday morning at East Lake Padden Park.
The women's team had a combined time of 1:52:34.00 for 71 points, placing 2nd in the 11-team field. Senior Taylor Guenther (Vancouver, WA/Prairie) led the Vikings placing 6th with a 22:01.50 in the 6k race. Junior Brittany Grant (Port Townsend, WA) placed 8th and freshman Tracy Melville (Lamont, WA/ Lind-Ritzville/Sprague) was 10th to also earn GNAC All-Star honors. Junior Sara Taferre (Vancouver, WA/Skyview), Junior Lillianna Stelling (Langley, WA/South Whidbey) and sophomore Alexandra Laiblin (Oak Harbor, WA) crossed the finish line in 23rd, 24th and 25th place. The top 7 Western runners ran a tight race with just 1:03 separation, with the top 6 just 56-seconds apart.
Alaska Anchorage won the women's team title with 39 points (3 runners in top 10). Joyce Chelimo was the individual winner clocking a time of 21:00.90 to win by nearly 8 seconds over teammate Caroline Kurgat.
"The women ran a really tight race and overall just had a solid team effort," said head coach Pee Week Halsell. "I felt like we had a number of runners step up today and give great performances. This will be a good building block towards our ultimate goal of a solid finish at regionals and nationals."
The men's squad finished 3rd in the 11-team race with 83 points, trailing powerhouse Alaska Anchorage (21 points, 5 racers in top 10) and Simon Fraser (54 points, 2 racers in top 10). Sophomore Andrew Wise (Denver, CO/East) led the Vikings with a 10th-place finish in a time of 25:30.80 on the 8k course. A total of six Vikings placed in the top 25 in the 8k race: 14th -- Matthew Lutz (Jr., Bremerton, WA/Olympic), 16th -- Nick Mounier (RS Fr., Kelso, WA), 21st -- Sean Eustis (So., Washougal, WA), 22nd -- Will Jones (Jr., Vancouver, WA/Columbia River), 25th -- Max Romey (Jr., Anchorage, AK/Robert Service).
"I thought the men did a nice job today and ran a good race," added Halsell. "They finished were we thought they would, and now we have some ground to make up and run a tighter race in regionals. Andrew (Wise) ran a nice race and pushed the team against some very good competition."
"It was a beautiful day for a race on our home course, and we really enjoy showing off Bellingham to every team in the GNAC," said Halsell. "We are lucky to have a great home course here at Lake Padden and we couldn't have asked for better race weather."The race was hosted at Lake Padden Park and hosted by Western Washington University in coordination with the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
WWU Women's Results:======================================================================= Name School Finals Points======================================================================= 6 #105 Guenther, Taylor Western Washington 22:01.50 6 8 #104 Grant, Brittany Western Washington 22:10.90 8 10 #111 Melville, Tracy Western Washington 22:24.90 10 23 #115 Taferre, Sara Western Washington 22:57.20 23 24 #114 Stelling, Lillianna Western Washington 22:57.30 24 25 #109 Laiblin, Alexandra Western Washington 22:57.70 25 29 #116 Troupe, Shawna Western Washington 23:03.40 29 51 #107 Jalbert, Maddy Western Washington 23:42.10 54 #110 Marikis, Sofia Western Washington 23:49.10 57 #118 Woodward, Mikhaela Western Washington 23:57.50
WWU Men's Results:======================================================================= Name School Finals Points======================================================================= 10 #239 Wise, Andrew Western Washington 25:30.80 10 14 #233 Lutz, Matthew Western Washington 25:43.40 14 16 #235 Mounier, Nick Western Washington 25:47.80 16 21 #227 Eustis, Sean Western Washington 26:05.20 21 22 #232 Jones, Will Western Washington 26:17.00 22 25 #238 Romey, Max Western Washington 26:25.90 25 28 #234 McCranie, Cody Western Washington 26:32.20 27 47 #237 Ripley, Noah Western Washington 26:58.40 48 #229 Hayes, Dylan Western Washington 26:59.00 76 #230 Irvine, Justin Western Washington 28:15.40
Tracy Melville, Taylor Guenther and Brittany Grant placed in the top 10.
