MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Washington University Cross Country finished third in the men's 8K and the women placed fourth in the 6K at the 2018 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships raced Saturday morning at Ash Creek Preserve. 

 

The conference meet was hosted by Western Oregon University, with the University of Alaska Anchorage sweeping both the men's and women's races, marking the seventh time the Seawolves have taken the top podium spot at the GNAC Championships. 

 

Western's men placed third with 60 points, with its five scoring runners all finishing in the top 16 and within 21 seconds of each other.

 

The Viking women finished fourth with 86 points, with four runners placing in the top 20. 

 

"All around, it was a great team effort by both squads in what is a very, very deep and competitive GNAC this year," said WWU head cross country coach Pee Wee Halsell. "We moved up a little on each side of where we were predicted to finish and will aim to keep doing that as we head into the regional meet in two weeks."

 

The WWU men's team finished in third place in the very competitive 8,000-meter race, with all five of Western's scoring runners placing in the top 16 in the 95-runner field. Alaska Anchorage won its 11^th GNAC Championships team title, the eighth in the last nine years, with 46 points, edging second-place Simon Fraser (54 points). WWU, ranked No. 21 in NCAA II and No. 5 in the West Region entering the meet, scored 60 points to finish right behind UAA (No. 11 national ranking) and SFU (No. 8 national ranking).

 

UAA featured the top two placing runners with Wesley Kirui (24:38) edging teammate Felix Kemboi (24:38.6) at the finish line. Simon Fraser also had its five scoring runners in the top 20, with Rowan Doherty (24:40.5) placing third and Sean Miller (24:43.4) fourth to earn All-GNAC honors.

 

Here is a look at the team standings from the 2018 GNAC Championships Men's 8K:

 

 

WWU senior Jadon Olson (Mill Creek, WA/Jackson) led the Vikings with a 9^th-place finish in 25:04.3 to earn All-GNAC honors for the second consecutive season (6^th place in 2017).

 

Sophomore Eric Hamel (Enumclaw, WA) was right behind Olson in 10^th place to also earn All-GNAC honors, finishing in 25:13.4.

 

The next three WWU finishers were tightly packed to complete the five allowed scoring runners, with junior James Jasperson (Lacey, WA/North Thurston/Everett CC) 12^th, senior Kyler Sager (Snohomish, WA/Everett CC) 13^th and redshirt sophomoreEd Kiolbasa (Stillwater, MN/Stillwater Area/North Dakota ) was 16^th.

 

"It was a great, really great performance by the men, in a very competitive race," said Halsell. "To have all five scoring runners in the top 20, that's a really great effort and very proud of how they raced today."

 

Here is a look at the individual performances by the WWU men at the GNAC Championships:

 

 

In the women's race 6,000-meter race, WWU finished fourth in a strong grouping of nationally-ranked teams, compiling 86 team points. The Vikings five scoring runners all placed in the top 23, with four top 20 finishes. 

 

Alaska Anchorage made it a sweep finishing with 49 points to win its ninth conference title, all over the last 10 seasons. The Seawolves had four runners earn All-GNAC honors finishing in the top 10, including individual winner Emmanuelah Chelimo (21:15.5). Simon Fraser finished just behind UAA with 60 points and Seattle Pacific was third with 63 points. UAA (No. 10), SFU (No. 8), SPU (No. 13) and WWU (No. 14) entered the meet in the top 15 in the NCAA Division II Cross Country Poll.

 

Here is a look at the team standings from the 2018 GNAC Championships Women's 6K:

 

 

Junior Sophia Galvez (Los Alamitos, NM) led the Vikings with an 11^th-place finish in 21:59.5, just missing a top-10 finish for All-GNAC honors. The next four WWU finishers were separated by less than 30 seconds, with sophomore Jane Barr (Seattle, WA/Roosevelt) placing 15^th in 22:10.9, redshirt freshman Shawnee Konrad (Mead, WA/Mt. Spokane) in 17^th in 22:23.6) and Peyton Shinnick (Maple Valley, WA/Tahoma) in 20^th place in 22:33.7.

 

"It was a solid performance by the women, with some room to improve before we head to regionals," said Halsell. "We showed our depth today with some runners really stepping up today, and I think we have a lot left in the tank when we race again in two weeks."

 

Here is a look at the individual performances by the WWU women at the GNAC Championships:

 

 

The Vikings return to meet action on Saturday, November 17 with the NCAA Division II West Regional at Amend Park in Billings, Montana. A total of 34 teams will be selected to participate in the 2018 NCAA Division II Championships held Dec. 1 in Pittsburg, PA. The top three teams from each of the eight regional meets will automatically advance to the championship finals (24 teams), with 10 at-large teams selected by the NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Cross Country Committee using a complicated system for selection criteria. After the 34 selected teams have been determined, a minimum 24 additional individuals per gender will be selected to compete at the NCAA Championships.

 

Here is a look at the 2018 WWU Cross Country schedule with meet results. Times and more detail on each event can be found online at WWUVikings.com/XC:

 

 

Fans can follow WWU Cross Country online at WWUVikings.com/XC, and via social media on Twitter (@WWUTFXC), Instagram (@WWUTFXC) and Facebook (@WWUTFXC).

 

-- WWU XC --