Friday, November 8, 2019

PORTLAND, Ore. – Two of the long-established top runners in the conference, Western Oregon’s Justin Crosswhite and Seattle Pacific’s Kate Lilly headline the 94 student-athletes selected to the 2019 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Cross Country All-Academic Team.

The two seniors are both three-time selections to the team and were the runners-up in their respective races at the GNAC Cross Country Championships on Oct. 26. Crosswhite, who has a 3.62 GPA as a business major, finished second in the men’s race with a time of 24:54.1 over 8,000 meters. He was 10 seconds behind champion Felix Kemboi of Alaska Anchorage, who was also named to the All-Academic Team.

Lilly, who has a 3.76 GPA as a mathematics major, placed second at the GNAC Championships as she covered the 6,000-meter course in 21:39.3. She was eight seconds behind champion Emmah Chelimo of Alaska Anchorage.

The two are among 10 total All-GNAC selections from the conference team to also earn All-Academic honors. Among the other men to make both teams is Western Washington senior Liam Cossette, Seattle Pacific junior Elius Graff and Central Washington junior Trevor Allen. Joining Lilly among the women is Seattle Pacific junior Dania Holmberg, Western Oregon senior Grace Knapp, Western Washington sophomore Rebecca Lehman and Vikings’ senior Tracy Melville.

Of the 94 total honorees, 38 are men and 56 are women. The men’s team includes 16 repeat selections and four three-time selections. For the women, 20 are repeat selections, 11 are three-time honorees and two are four-time selections: Alaska senior Alex Bergholtz and Western Oregon senior Kendra Zimmerdahl.

The squads include 39 student-athletes (eight men, 31 women) with GPAs of 3.80 or better. Six student-athletes have perfect 4.00 GPAs: Alaska Anchorage sophomore Jacob Moos and senior Yvonne Jeschke; Alaska sophomores Catherine Reed-Metayer and Sage Robine; Northwest Nazarene senior Bethany Danner and Western Oregon senior Danel Camacho.

To qualify for the GNAC All-Academic Teams, a student-athlete must be of sophomore eligibility of greater, be in his or her second season of competition at the nominating institution, be a letterwinner and have a cumulative 3.20 grade point average or higher.

2019 GNAC CROSS COUNTRY ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM