LACEY, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's and women's cross country teams both earned runner-up teams honors at the 2021 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday on the Saint Martin's University campus.
 
The Vikings were the defending champions for both the men and women after earning the team sweep in 2019. This year Simon Fraser University swept the podium with the Vikings coming in second.
 
The WWU placed all five scoring runners in the top 15 to finish with 55 team points (SFU had 50) and the women placed five in the top 25 for 77 team points (SFU had 32).
 
The men's squad had a pair of All-GNAC performers with junior Mac Franks placing 6th and freshman Jeret Gillingham 8th. The top 10 individual placers are recognized as All-GNAC performers.
 
"I am very proud of the gritty performance both teams gave today to finish in second place," said WWU Track & Field and Cross Country head coach Pee Wee Halsell. "They ran hard, they ran as a pack and they gave a great all-around effort. In two weeks we will be even better at regionals and that is now where our focus is concentrated on."
  The Viking men were edged out by Simon Fraser University in their attempt to repeat as conference champions.
 
WWU finished with a team score of 55, with all five scoring runners inside the top 15 and separated by just 14 seconds. But SFU was equally impressive with all five scoring runners in the top 20 and had a trio in the top 10 to win its first conference title. Western Oregon was well back of the Vikings in third place with 96 points.
 
Junior Mac Franks led the Vikings with a 6th-place finish to earn All-GNAC honors, completing the 8K course in 24:45.3. Freshman Jeret Gillingham also picked up all-conference accolades for his 8th-place finish in 24:48.5.
 
Junior Alec Ritter (24:56.8) was 12th, freshman Jalen Javurek (24:58.6) finished 14th and freshman Kevin McDermott (25:00.0) placed 15th to round out WWU's scoring five.
 
Additionally, senior Kaleb Korta made his WWU GNAC Championships debut  (transfer from UAA) placing 25th in 25:31.0 and freshman Sean Sands was 26th in 25:32.2.
 
Here is a look at the team standings from the 2021 GNAC Championships Men's 8K, with WWU earning its ninth team runner-up finish (to go along with five titles) in the 20-year history of the event.
 

2021 GNAC Championships Men's Team Results (8K)
Pl.	Team	Points
1.	Simon Fraser	50
2.	Western Washington	55
3.	Western Oregon	96
4.	Alaska Anchorage	107
5.	Northwest Nazarene	150
6.	Central Washington	165
7.	MSU Billings	168
8.	Saint Martin's	190
9.	Alaska Fairbanks	224
10.	Seattle Pacific	228

 
Here is a look at the individual performances by the WWU men at the GNAC Championships, with Franks and Gillingham earning All-GNAC honors for placing individually in the top 10:
 

Pl.	WWU Runner	Time
6.	Mac Franks (All-GNAC)	24:45.3
8.	Jeret Gillingham (All-GNAC)	24:48.5
12.	Alec Ritter	24:56.8
14.	Jalen Javurek	24:58.6
15.	Kevin McDermott	25:00.0
25.	Kaleb Korta	25:31.0
26.	Sean Sands	25:32.2
33.	Drew Weber	25:54.5
47.	Brock Knowles	26:33.1
51.	Nick McIver	26:46.5

 
Aaron Ahl of Simon Fraser won the men's 8K individual title completing the course in 24:21.8, followed closely by Cole Nash of Alaska Anchorage (24:22.9), Charlie Dannatt of Simon Fraser (24:32.8), Dylan Tidwell of Northwest Nazarene (24:35.9) and Jacob Moos of Alaska Anchorage (24:42.4).
  The WWU women also earned a runner-up finish with a team score of 77, edging out third-place Alaska Fairbanks (92). Simon Fraser made it a sweep on top of the podium with 32 points as four runners earned All-GNAC honors.
 
Junior Brook Wedin led the Vikings placing 11th to just miss All-GNAC honors, completing the 6K course in 22:26.1. The Vikings top five scoring runners were separated by just 21 seconds, with all five placing in the top 25.
 
Behind Wedin, senior Brittany Aquino made her GNAC Championships debut placing 13th in 22:30.7 and freshman Ila Davis was 14th in 22:31.4. Senior Shawnee Konrad was 18th in 22:44.4 and freshman Mia Crocker rounded out the scoring five in 21st place 22:47.7.
 
Olivia Willett of Simon Fraser paced the 80-runner field completing the course in 21:27.3, followed by three Alaska Fairbanks runners – Rosie Fordham (21:33.1), Kendall Kramer (21:34.5), Naomi Bailey (21:45.0).
 
Here is a look at the team standings from the 2021 GNAC Championships Women's 6K, with the Vikings placing 2nd for the fourth time after winning their first team title in 2019.
 

2021 GNAC Championships Women's Team Results (6K)
Place	Team	Points
1.	Simon Fraser	32
2.	Western Washington	77
3.	Alaska Fairbanks	92
4.	Western Oregon	114
5.	Seattle Pacific	161
6.	Northwest Nazarene	163
7.	Alaska Anchorage	189
8.	Saint Martin's	191
9.	Central Washington	204
10.	MSU Billings	221

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

Pl.	WWU Runner	Time
11.	Brook Wedin	22:26.1
13.	Brittany Aquino	22:30.7
14.	Ila Davis	22:31.4
19.	Shawnee Konrad	22:52.3
22.	Mia Crocker	22:47.7
23.	Eugenia Palko	22:47.9
31.	Sophie Wright	23:11.7
37.	Sophia Collins	23:53.4
53.	Delphine Maurer	24:40.6

  Following the GNAC Championships, the Vikings will continue its postseason push at the NCAA II West Regional on November 6 at Ash Creek Preserve in Monmouth, Oregon. The top three placing teams at the West Regional automatically qualify for the NCAA Division II National Championships, which will be held November 20 at Abbey Golf Course in Tampa, Florida. A to-be-determined number of at-large teams will also be selected. Both WWU men's and women's teams were at-large selections at the NCAA II Championships for two consecutive years, competing last in Sacramento in 2019.
  Fans can follow WWU Cross Country online at WWUVikings.com/XC, and via social media on Twitter (@WWUTFXC), Instagram (@WWUTFXC) and Facebook (@WWUTFXC).