BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University women's and men's cross country teams both earned team runner-up honors at the 46^th Annual WWU Classic raced on Saturday at Sudden Valley Golf Course.

 

The Viking women finished with a team score of 88 points, edging third-place Alaska Anchorage (93 points) for the 2^nd-place finish. No. 1 regionally and No. 4 nationally-ranked Chico State won the women's 6k with 51 team points, placing all five of its scoring runners in the top 15 of the 122-runner field. Western entered the race ranked 5^th regionally and 18^th nationally, but leapfrogged Seattle Pacific (No. 2 region, No. 7 national) and UAA (No. 4 region, No. 14 national).

 

Junior team co-captain Jane Barr (Seattle, WA/Roosevelt) led the Vikings with a 9^th-place finish in 22:17.5, while sophomore Tovah Swartz-Ireland (Seattle, WA/Nathan Hale) was 21^st (17^th for points purposes) and seniors Tracy Melville (Lamont, WA/Lind-Ritzville-Sprague) and Sophia Galvez (Los Alamos, NM) finished 25^th and 26^th (20^th and 21^st for points).

 

The WWU men also placed 2^nd with a team score of 97, with three runners in the top 20 and all five scoring runners in the top 26. No. 1 regionally and No. 3 nationally-ranked Chico State ran away with the team title with 24 points, placing seven runners in the top 10. Alaska Anchorage finished in 3^rdplace with 115 points.

 

Junior Eric Hamel (Enumclaw, WA) led the Vikings with a 15^th-place finish covering the 10k in 32:38.1, with senior Liam Cossette (Spokane, WA/Ferris) placing 26^th and senior James Jasperson(Lacey, WA/North Thurston) 27^th. 

 

"I thought both teams raced exceptionally well today, working together with a pack mentality and that led to two great second-place finishes," said WWU head coach Pee Wee Halsell. "It was another great WWU Classic that we really enjoy hosting. Great weather, great competition and great hosts out here at Sudden Valley. Couldn't have asked for a better fall day."

 

Alaska Anchorage made it a clean sweep winning both the women's 6k and men's 10k individual titles. Junior Nancy Jeptoo was on the women's race in 21:36.1 and Felix Kemboi took the men's 10k title finishing in 31:37.6.

 

Here is a look at WWU's individual performance in the men's 10k from Saturday's WWU Classic. Please note, any runners that competing as unattached, even if listed on the official WWU roster, will not be included below due to NCAA rules. Places listed below are the overall finish, not based on points earned:

 

 

 

Here is a look at WWU's individual performance in the women's 6k from Saturday's WWU Classic. Places listed below are the overall finish, not based on points earned:

 

 

 

With the regular season now complete the Vikings will turn their attention to the postseason, beginning with the GNAC Championships in two weeks on Oct. 26 at Amend Park in Billings, Montana. The NCAA II West Regional follows on November 9 at Ash Creek Preserve in Monmouth, Oregon.

 

The 2019 WWU cross country schedule features five regular-season meets, followed by the GNAC Championships, NCAA II West Regional and the NCAA II Championships. Start times for all meets will be posted online at WWUVikings.com/XC when they are finalized. For the 2019 season, the women will race first and the men second at each meet.

 

 

 

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