YAKIMA, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's and women's cross country teams wasted little time backing up their preseason national rankings.
 
Both Viking squads opened the 2022 season with dominating performances to record a team victory sweep at the Central Washington Invitational on Saturday with racing held at Apple Ridge Run.
 
"It was a lot of fun to see the Vikings debut this season with a lot of solid performances," said WWU head cross country and track & field coach Pee Wee Halsell. "The goal was to run a solid race to set us up for later races…and we accomplished that. It was great to see so many new Vikings competing."
 
The No. 30 nationally-ranked Viking men's squad posted a perfect team score of 15 sweeping the top five spots in the race. Sophomore Jeret Gillingham won the race covering the course in 18:50.90, followed by Andrew Oslin (18:53.10), Kevin McDermott (19:00.00), Jalen Javurek (19:14.60) and Jared Alderfer (19:24.20).
 
The No. 20 nationally-ranked women's squad also put together a dominating season-opening performance with a team score of 18, led by a winning performance from sophomore Sophie Wright with a time of 15:23.20 on the 4.1-kilometer course. Transfer Meaera Shannon placed second (15:40.10) and sophomore Mia Crocker was in third place (15:44.20) to sweep the top three places. Freshman Ashley Reeck finished in fifth place (16:06.80).
 
Men's Team Results:

1. Western Washington (15) - perfect score
2. Central Washington (72)
3. Northwest University (79)
4. Seattle Pacific (94)

Men's Top 5 Finishers:

1. Jeret Gillingham, WWU (18:50.90)
2. Andrew Oslin, WWU (18:53.10)
3. Kevin McDermott, WWU (19:00.00)
4. Jalen Javurek, WWU (19:14.60)
5. Jared Alderfer, WWU (19:24.20)

Women's Team Results:

1. Western Washington (18)
2. Seattle Pacific (45)
3. Central Washington (83)

Women's Top 5 Finishers:

1. Sophie Wright, WWU (15:23.20)
2. Meaera Shannon, WWU (15:40.10)
3. Mia Crocker, WWU (15:44.20)
4. Libby Michael, SPU (15:46.20)
5. Ashley Reeck, WWU (16:06.80)

WWU takes next weekend off and is back in action hosting the Bill Roe Invitational on Saturday, September 24 at Hovander Park in Ferndale. The complete 2022 WWU Cross Country schedule can be viewed online at wwuvikings.com/22_XC.