BILLINGS, Mont. – Last year, Alexis Parker didn't even run in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference cross country meet for Western Washington.

 

This year, she led the way for the Vikings earning a runner-up title at the 2025 edition of the Championships held Saturday at Amend Park.

 

Last year, Sten Brakstad and Jonah Billings didn't even factor into the scoring at conference.

 

This year, they were at the front of WWU's pack.

 

Parker, a senior, finished second in the women's race, sophomores Brakstad and Billings went 2-4 on the men's side, and the Vikings captured both team crowns for the fourth consecutive year in Saturday morning's GNAC event at Amend Park.

 

Not only did both Western teams win, they did it with matching totals of 37 points. The women, No. 21 nationally and No. 4 in the West, had all five scorers among the top12 and were well in front of second-place Seattle Pacific, which checked in with 92.

 

The men, ranked No. 9 nationally and No. 1 in the West, had four in the top 10 and all five in the top 12 as they pulled away from runner-up Alaska Anchorage, which finished with 58.

 

This marked the fourth consecutive year the Vikings have swept the team titles at the GNAC Championships, extending a remarkable run by the program that has a current string of 16 consecutive team titles across men's and women's cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field dating back to the 2023 outdoor championships.

 

"We graduated so many kids last year and all of them did so much for this program," head coach Ben Stensland said. "To see them move on and have a ton of folks who have been here for  a while and putting in so much work and then stepping up in a big way has been special. Their demeanor pre-race, during the race – you could see how cool and calm and collected they were."

 

WOMEN: ANOTHER RACE, ANOTHER NEW LEADER

In each of their four races this fall, the Western women have had a different front runner at the finish line. At Gator Cross on September 13, it was junior Jill Philbin. At the Bill Roe WWU Classic, junior Ella Edens led the way. Then it was sophomore Sabrina Colbert at the Lewis Crossover.

 

On Saturday, it was Parker setting the pace right from the start. She was virtually stride-for-stride with co-leaders Maya Ewing of Seattle Pacific, Rachel Watkins of Simon Fraser and Kyla Potratz of Western Oregon at the 2K mark. Ewing had pulled away from everyone by 4.4K, and Parker was third at that point, three seconds behind second-place Watkins.

 

In the final stretch of the race on the flat Amend Park course, Parker made a move to pull ahead of Watkins and came through the wire in 21:28.3. Watkins clocked 21:26.5. Ewing, the pre-race favorite, won handily in 21:04.7.

 

"I think this was just the accumulation of a lot of hard work," Parker said. "I told myself before the race that I could be up there. I just wanted to be up there and run with my teammates and get the team title. Around the mile, it broke away a little bit with four or five of us, and that's when it felt like it was a real possibility to be up there."

 

All five Western Washington scorers broke the 22-minute mark. Edens was fifth in 21:33.7 and sophomore Danielle McLain was seventh in 21:40.0 securing All-GNAC medals. Senior Laura Halsell was 11th in 21:46.0 and senior Emmy Kroontje took 12th in 21:46.7.

 

"I tell the kids that in cross country, it's important to have more than just five. You have to have a full team of seven or 10, and that's what this team brings to the table," assistant coach / distance coach T.J. Garlatz. For us to put up 37 points in a tough conference like the GNAC, that's a testament to the work that all of the team has put in."

 

MEN: SOPHOMORE TANDEM DOES IT AGAIN

All season, Brakstad and Billings have been pushing and pulling each other to run among the leaders. After going sixth and ninth at the Gator Cross (Nos. 3 and 4 for Western), they finished 2-3 at the Bill Roe meet and 10-20 at Lewis.

 

On Saturday, they did it again. As he did at Bill Roe and Lewis, Brakstad got there first, finishing his 8 kilometers in 24:17.5, making him No. 2 overall behind winner John Peckham of Alaska Anchorage (24:04.5). Billings was fourth in 24:26.6 to secure All-GNAC honors for a top-10 placing.

 

"It was a lot of fun to move with the team and have that pack through the first half of the race," Brakstad said. "At the halfway point, the move got made, it was time to go and cue off of my teammates and see everyone around me and move up. It makes all the difference to have someone like Jonah out there. We do all of our workouts together and we just know how to support each other out there."

 

At the 4K mark, the team race was essentially a dead heat between Western and Anchorage. Then while Brakstad, Billings and junior Jared Alderfer stayed steady up front, sophomore George Fernandez and senior Logan Werner made big moves farther back in the pack. Fernandez, who was 19th halfway through, climbed all the way to 10th by the finish line (24:40.1). Werner, who was 18th, moved up to 12th (24:48.7). Alderfer secured an All-GNAC finish in ninth with a time of 24:39.9.

 

"We've been putting in some pretty good training, and I trust us in the second half of the race more than I trust other teams," Garlatz said. "It was a fun little battle and it wasn't handed to us."

 

The Vikings have swept the GNAC titles in each of the last four seasons with the WWU men and women winning in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. Dating back to 2019, Western has swept the GNAC Cross Country Championships five times. 

 

The Vikings swept the team titles at the 2025 GNAC Cross Country Championships, marking the fourth consecutive season to win the men's and women's titles. Dating back to the 2022 calendar year, the WWU men have won 11 of 12 possible titles in cross country, indoor and outdoor, while the women have combined for nine of 12 titles. The Western track & field and cross country program has a current string of 16 consecutive team titles across men's and women's dating back to the 2023 outdoor championships.

 

 

Here is a look at the final team scoring from the 2025 GNAC Cross Country Championships:

 

 

Here is a look at the men's results from the 8K at the 2025 GNAC Championships:

 

 

Here is a look at the women's results from the 6K at the GNAC Championships:

 

 

Here are some of the details about the 2025 GNAC Championships that was held Saturday in Billings, Montana:

 

·         What: 2025 GNAC Cross Country Championships

·         Team Champions: WWU (Men), WWU (Women)

·         Individual Champions: John Peckham, UAA (Men), Maya Ewing, SPU (Women)

·         When: Saturday, October 25

·         Where: Amend Park in Billings, Montana

·         History: Get updated on the full history of the previous 23 GNAC XC Championships

 

Here is a look at how the Vikings have finished at the GNAC Cross Country Championships, with a detailed history of the event available online at GNACSports.com. The WWU men have won nine titles (2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025) and recorded nine runner-up finishes, while the women have won five titles (2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025) and have four runner-up finishes.

 

 

Following the GNAC Championships, the Vikings continue their goal of reaching the national championships November 22 in Kenosha, Wisconsin at the Wayne E. Danehl XC Course. The West Regional Championships will be held Saturday, November 8 at Ash Creek Preserve in Monmouth, Oregon. The 6K women's race starts at 10 am, followed by the 10K men's run at 11:15 am. The top three teams in each race automatically qualify for the NCAA nationals, set for Nov. 23 in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  The complete 2025 WWU Cross Country schedule can be viewed online at wwuvikings.com/25_XC.

 

Both the WWU men's and women's cross country programs hold regional and national rankings in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) polls. WWU is coming off a pair of top 15 finishes at the 2024 NCAA Division II National Championships, with the women placing 11th and men 13th after both taking runner-up honors at the regional championship:

 

• WWU Men: No. 1 in West Region, No. 9 in NCAA II
• WWU Women: No. 4 in West Region, No. 21 in NCAA II

 

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.