UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. – The Western Washington University cross country teams wrapped up the 2022 regular season competing Saturday in the D2 Pre-Nationals Meet at Chambers Creek Regional Park.
The meet served as the final preview of the course that will host the NCAA Division II National Championships that will be held December 2 at Chambers Bay.
The No. 20 nationally-ranked men's team had another strong performance placing 4th in the men's Division II race, with the top five scoring runners all placing in the top 45 and combining for a team score of 142. WWU trailed a trio of top-10 teams with No. 1 Colorado School of Mines (19), No. 5 Chico State (84) and No. 10 Western Colorado (91) earning the top three spots.
Sophomore Kevin McDermott paced the Vikings with a 17th-place finish completing the 8K course in 24:18.5. Junior Andrew Oslin was 22nd in a PR of 24:31.1 and sophomore Ryan Clough was 29th in 24:42.5. All 10 of Western's runners in the DII race finished in the top 90 out of 217 runners and 27 total teams.
In the men's open race, sophomore Ethan Bursch (15th, 25:34.3) and freshman Matthew Salazar (18th, 25:52.2) earned top 20 finishes in the 119-runner race. WWU also placed 4th in the open portion of the race with 91 team points, trailing Chico State (49), Lewis-Clark State (56) and Lane Community College (84).
The No. 29 women's team finished 8th out of 29 teams posting a score of 242. WWU's top five scoring runners all finished within the top 70 of the 223-runner competition on the 6K course. Sophomore Mia Crocker led the way finishing 38th in 22:08.5 and junior Marian Ledesma finished 44th nearly recording a PR in 22:19.3.
In the women's open race the Vikings had four runners, led by a 24th-place finish by sophomore Emma Smith (24:09.8) and 29th by freshman Emmy Kroontje (24:20.8).
No. 3 nationally-ranked Colorado School of Mines won the women's D2 race with 37 team points, followed by No. 11 Western Colorado (88), No. 20 Biola (151) and No. 12 Chico State (194).
With the regular-season schedule wrapped up, the Vikings will turn their attention to the postseason with the 2022 GNAC Championships held November 5 at Ash Creek Preserve in Monmouth, Oregon. The NCAA Division II West Regional will be held two weeks after the GNAC Championships November 19 in Billings, Montana. The complete 2022 WWU Cross Country schedule can be viewed online at wwuvikings.com/22_XC.
Fans can follow WWU Cross Country online at WWUVikings.com/XC, and via social media on Twitter (@WWUTFXC), Instagram (@WWUTFXC) and Facebook (@WWUTFXC).
Gallery: (10-22-2022) XC | D2 Pre-Nationals
