ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – The Western Washington University Cross Country program recorded a great overall team performance at the 2026 Lewis Crossover, with the No. 9 nationally ranked Viking men winning the 8K race and the women placing fifth in the 6K Saturday on the Lewis University XC Course.

 

The WWU men entered the crossover meet as the highest nationally ranked team at No. 9 and backed that up earning the victory with a team score of 114.0 edging Findlay (Ohio) by seven points. Senior Jared Alderfer led the five scoring runners placing fourth with an 8K time of 24:21.9 and junior George Fernandez finished just outside the top 10 placing 11th in 24:30.3. Junior Sten Brakstad (16th, 24:38.9), junior Spencer Zeljak (31st, 25:01.5) and freshman Nicky Luce (52nd, 25:22.7) rounded out the Vikings scoring runners. WWU placed 3rd at the Lewis Crossover last season and runner-up in 2024.

 

"It was a solid performance for the men today. It's our first time ever winning the Lewis Crossover and coming in winning was our goal," said WWU Distance Coach T.J. Garlatz. "Jared (Alderfer) did a great job of leading us out front and continues to show that his hard work is paying off. Our big goals are at the end of the season in the championship portion of our season. We have four weeks until GNAC and six weeks until regionals. Once we get Jonah Billings back, the team's going be pretty tough."

 

The Western women recorded a steady performance placing 5th out of 26 scoring teams with a team score of 171.0. Entering the meet ranked No. 6 in the West Region, the Vikings made a strong case to enter the national top 25 finishing ahead of No. 16 Findlay and No. 26 Saginaw Valley State, and placed ahead of West Region No. 5 Concordia Irvine. WWU was in a tight battle with GNAC foe Central Washington throughout the 6K race, placing just ahead of the 6th-place Wildcats with a five-point advantage.

 

Senior Ella Edens continued her strong final collegiate season placing 3rd overall with a time of 21:39.4 after winning the Bill Roe Classic in the season opener two weeks ago at Hovander Homestead Park. Junior Josephine Stevenson surged to place 27th in 22:38.9 and junior Danielle McLain was 39th in 22:53.7. Junior Kendall Carter (46th, 23:02.6) and sophomore Cecilia Villagomez Edvalson (56th, 23:13.7) rounded out the five scoring runners in the Vikings top-five performance.

 

"Ella (Edens) continues to run outstanding. All the girls she's running with upfront are established All-Americans and she's on that trajectory," added Garlatz. "The team as a whole exceeded outside expectations. We beat some nationally ranked team teams, despite coming in unranked, showing that our tradition of running well when it counts is something will continue this year. Josephine (Stevenson) and Kendall (Carter) had their best races as Vikings and we're excited to see how the next four weeks will play out until the GNAC Championships and regionals."

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A post shared by The Stride Report (@thestridereport)

The Vikings return to action with the regular-season finale on Saturday, October 26 hosting the Lake Padden Invitational in Bellingham. The 2026 GNAC Championships follow on Saturday, November 7 at Ash Creek Preserve on the campus of Western Oregon University in Monmouth, Oregon. WWU is the four-time defending conference champion in both men's and women's cross country at the GNAC Championships.

 

Here is a look at the top 15 in team scoring for the men's 8K and women's 6K from Lewis Crossover hosted by Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois.

 

 

Here is a look at the men's results from the 8K race for the Viking men at the Lewis Crossover. WWU recorded a winning team score of 114.0 to place 1st among 27 scoring collegiate teams:

 

 

Here is a look at the women's results from the 6K race for the Viking women at the Lewis Crossover. WWU recorded a team score of 171.0 placing 5th out of 26 scoring collegiate teams.

 

 

The 2026 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.