BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The No. 16 nationally-ranked Western Washington University men's cross country team will compete Friday at the NCAA Division II Championships at Chambers Creek Regional Park in University Place.

 

WWU is making its 12th trip to nationals since joining the NCAA in 1998 and for the third time in the last four seasons will be competing for a national title. The Vikings punched its ticket to nationals with a runner-up finish at the West Regional Championships and also won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference team title.

 

The Vikings enter the 34-team NCAA Championships ranked No. 16 nationally and have held a spot in the top 30 all season.

 

Western is led by sophomore Jeret Gillingham, who placed 3rd in the GNAC Championships and 10th in the regional meet to earn a pair of postseason awards. 

 

The men's 10K NCAA II Championship race is scheduled to begin at 10 am, followed by the women's race at 11:15 am. The cross country championships are part of the D2 Fall Sports Festival that includes championships for men's and women's cross country, men's and women's soccer, women's field hockey and women's volleyball in the Seattle area. 

 

WWU will be part of the 34-team field at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships with the 10K opening the event on Friday, December 2 at 10 am at Chambers Creek Regional Park in University Place. Here are ways to follow the event online, including live results and a webcast on NCAA.com:

 

• Live Results
• Webcast via NCAA.com
• 10K Course Map
• NCAA Program

 

The Vikings qualified for the 34-team national championships earning an automatic bid by placing second as a team at the West Regional held November 19 in Billings, Montana. WWU was one of three teams to earn an automatic bid out of the West, joining Chico State and Azusa Pacific. Western matched the highest-ever placing for a Vikings team at NCAA Regionals, with the 2007 and 2009 squads also earning runner-up team honors.

 

The Vikings had five runners earn All-West Region honors from the USTFCCCA for placing in the top 25 at the regional meet. Here is a listing of WWU's All-Region and All-GNAC award winners. 

 

USTFCCCA All-Region Awards (top 25):

• Jeret Gillingham – 10th
• Andrew Oslin – 14th
• Ryan Clough – 16th
• George Karamitsos – 18th

 

All-GNAC Awards (top 10):

• Jeret Gillingham – 3rd
• Andrew Oslin – 4th
• George Karamitsos – 7th
• Kevin McDermott – 8th
• Ryan Clough – 9th

 

The Vikings will send eight runners to the NCAA Championships, with seven competitors and one alternate runner. Here is a look at the WWU roster for nationals:

 

• Jared Alderfer (Midway City, CA)
• Ryan Clough (Port Orchard, WA)
• Jeret Gillingham (Sandy, OR)
• Jalen Javurek (Portland, OR)
• George Karamitsos (Arlington, VA)
• Kevin McDermott (Port Orchard, WA)
• Andrew Oslin (Puyallup, WA)
• Alec Ritter (Enumclaw, WA)

 

The Vikings will be racing locally at Chambers Creek Regional Park for the third time this season. The national meet marks the first time running a 10K on the course, with team members competing in University Place October 1 at the John Payne/Curtis Invitational and October 22 at D2 Pre Nationals. Here is a look at the map of the 10K course the men will compete with the start scheduled for 10 am.

For the second time in program history, the Western Washington University Cross Country teams swept the podium at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships, with both the men's and women's teams winning the team title at the 2022 championships held at Ash Creek Preserve in Monmouth, Oregon. The men's squad gave a dominating performance with all five scoring runners earning All-GNAC honors for finishing in the top 10 and the women had a pair of All-GNAC performers and four runners in the top 20. The WWU men earned its sixth team title and the women claimed the league title for the second time. WWU also swept the podium in 2019 when the championships were held on a snowy course in Billings, Montana and both squads finished runner-up in 2021. The men's squad finished with a program record for the GNAC Championships with a team score of 31 points, over 20 points better than second-place Simon Fraser (52). All five men's scoring runners – Jeret Gillingham (3rd), Andrew Oslin (4th), George Karamitsos (7th), Kevin McDermott (8th), Ryan Clough (9th) – finished in the top 10 to earn All-GNAC honors. Jered Alderfer earned GNAC Freshman of the Year honors on the men's side with his 17th-place finish.

 

The Vikings have a pair of runners earn the GNAC Cross Country Athlete of the Week honor during the 2022 season:

 

• Jeret Gillingham, September 5-11
• Kevin McDermott, October 3-9

 

The Vikings men head into nationals ranked No. 16 in the USTFCCCA Coaches Poll, maintaining a spot in the national top 30 all season long. Have moved up in the polls in each of the last three listings to reach its highest team ranking since entering the 2018 national meet ranked No. 15. Here is a look at the national week-by-week rankings this season for the Vikings:

 

 

This marks the 12th trip to nationals for the men's team and the third in the last four seasons (no race in 2020). WWU placed 22nd at the 2019 championships in Sacramento and 26th in 2018 in Pittsburgh. Here is a look at WWU's prior finishes at the NCAA West Regional and NCAA II National Championships since joining the NCAA in 1998:

 

 

Here is a look by race-by-race results for the Vikings eight student-athletes that make up the travel roster for the NCAA Championships (PR highlighted in Yellow). The complete 2022 WWU Cross Country schedule with full meet results can be viewed online at wwuvikings.com/22_XC.