SEATTLE, Wash. – The Western Washington University cross country made it a full day of racing Saturday with teams split between a national-level meet in Illinois and a local meet at the Emerald City Open at Lower Woodland Park.

 

With the Vikings making a national statement at the Lewis Crossover with top-six finishes – including the men in 3rd and women in 6th – the remainder of the team got the chance to race locally at the Emerald City Open hosted by Club Northwest. WWU conquered the hilly course with the men winning the 8K race placing seven runners in the top 10 and women in second place behind SPU.

 

The Western men showed off their team depth with seven runners place in the top 10 for a team score of 22 to finish well ahead of second-place Seattle Pacific (56 points). Sophomore Cale O'Day led the Vikings as the top collegiate finisher and second overall completing the 8K course in 26:07.07. Douglas Bryant racing for Club Northwest finished ahead of O'Day in 25:54.58.

 

With new collegiate compliance rules allowing runners to compete in a small percentage of events while still maintaining possible redshirt status, a handful of newcomers made their official collegiate debuts during the meet. Freshmen Leaf McQuillen (26:12.74) and Nate Rumberger (26:18.04) finished third and fourth directly behind O'Day. Sophomores Lev Michaels (6th, 26:23.38) and Jacob Schutt (7th, 26:32.43) rounded out the scoring five runners for the Vikings. WWU had 23 runners compete in the 8K to go with the seven that traveled to the Lewis Crossover for the third-place team finish.

 

Western's women had a strong showing at the Emerald City Open with six runners taking to the Lower Woodland Park course. WWU finished with a team score of 39 placing its five scoring runners in the top 12. SPU won the team event with a score of 27 showcasing four runners crossing the finish line in the top five with senior Maya Ewing recording a winning time of 22:31.49.

 

Freshman Olivia Friedrich made her official collegiate debut leading the Vikings in sixth place in a time of 23:23.72. She was followed by sophomore Kendall Carter (8th, 23:36.48), senior Alanna Parker (10th, 24:10.77), redshirt freshman Skye Stenehjem (11th, 24:12.43) and freshman Riley Carter (15th, 25:03.01).

 

With the regular season complete, the Vikings turn their attention to the GNAC Cross Championships that will be held in two weeks on October 25 at Amend Park in Billings, Montana. The Vikings are the three-time defending men's and women's cross country champions.

 

• WWU Men's Results at Emerald City Open
• WWU Women's Results at Emerald City Open 

 

Here is a look at the top 5 team standings for the men's 8K and women's 6K at the Emerald City Open held Saturday at Lower Woodland Park in Seattle.

 

 

The 2025 WWU cross country schedule features four 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.