GNAC Cross Country

Pixler Earns USTFCCCA National Cross Country Award

Jessica Pixler, who became the first woman to win three straight Division II championships last Saturday, has been named the USTFCCCA NCAA Division II National Cross Country Athlete of the Year.

Pixler led the race at Evansville, Indiana, virtually from start to finish finishing in a time of 20:22.9 seven seconds faster than runner-up Sarah Porter of Western Washington.

She finished her collegiate cross country career with 11 championship wins, including four GNAC and four West Regionals. She set course records in winning her fourth conference (21:03 at Yakima’s Apple Ridge Run) and fourth West Regional titles (20:08.9 at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park).

Earlier, Pixler was named the West Region Female Cross Country Athlete of the Year and was tabbed by the GNAC as its female Runner of the Year.

While Pixler is the first Division II woman with three consecutive cross country wins, two others have accomplished that feat at different levels: Sally Kipeygo of Texas Tech in Division I (2006-08) and Missy Buttry of Wartburg in Division III (2002-04).

Pixler’s NCAA title was the ninth of her career. In addition to the three cross country crowns, she has four championships in indoor track and field two in outdoor track and field.

Strickler Earns NCAA Elite 88 Award at NCAA National Meet

Seattle Pacific senior Suzie Strickler was presented with the NCAA Elite 88 award last weekend at Evansville, Indiana.

The award, which is in its first year, honors the student athlete with the highest cumulative GPA at each of the NCAA’s 88 championships. Strickler’s is 3.99.

In addition to the GPA, student-athletes must take part in the national championship event for their sport to be eligible. The award will be given to one participant at each of the NCAA's 88 championships throughout the year.

Last Saturday at the NCAA Division II nationals in Evansville, Ind., Strickler was the second Seattle Pacific runner across the finish line, taking 46th overall among the 184 runners in the field. She finished her 6-kilometer run in 22 minutes, 11.5 seconds, helping the Falcons earn the fourth-place team trophy.

Pixler, Porter Finish 1-2 at NCAA Nationals

Jessica Pixler won a record third consecutive NCAA Division II national cross country title leading Seattle Pacific to the best finish by a West Region women's team in the national meet Nov. 21 at Evansville, Indiana.

Pixler became the first female in Division II history to win three individual titles and only the third in any division to accomplish that feat.

The other three-time winners are Sally Kipeygo of Texas Tech (2006-08 in Division I) and Missy Buttry of Wartburg (2002-04 in Division III). She now has nine NCAA championships - three in cross country, four in indoor track & field and two in outdoor track & field.

“To go out there and make (D-2) history, that’s pretty special," SPU coach Erika Daligcon said. "It just speaks to the work. She’s definitely talented, but she has put in all those hours of work.”

Pixler finished first in a time of 20:22.6, just 7 1/2 seconds ahead of Sarah Porter of Western Washington who was timed in 20:30.1.

It was Pixler's first single-digit margin of victory in her 11 cross country championship wins (four in the GNAC, four in the NCAA West Region and three at the national meet) since she won the GNAC title in her freshman season by just three seconds.

Porter’s second-place finish was the best by any Western Washington cross country runner in school history. “Sarah’s strategy was not to go out with the leaders and expend too much energy,” WWU coach Kelven "Pee Wee" Halsell said. “At the halfway mark, she went out and really started dropping people and she was really pulling on Pixler at the end.”

Led by Pixler, Seattle Pacific placed fourth in the team race with 151 points, seven points ahead of GNAC and West Region champion Alaska Anchorage, which placed fifth. Western Washington finished eighth.

The Vikings matched Seattle Pacific's fourth place finish in the men's division, finishing in back of three teams from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.

Jordan Welling was Western Washington's top male placer, finishing 13th in a time of 31:44.6. Welling was one of nine GNAC athletes - four men and five women - to earn All-American honors with Top 40 finishes.

Also earning All-American honors in the men's race were Chris Reed of Western Oregon, Barak Watson of Northwest Nazarene and Micah Chelimo of Alaska Anchorage.

Reed and Watson, competing as individuals placed 35th and 38th, respectively, in times of 32:28.5 and 32:30.1. Chelimo placed 40th in a time of 32:34.3 leading the Seawolves to a 17th place team finish.

Earning All-America honors in the women's race in addition to Pixler and Porter were Miriam Kipngeno and Ruth Keino of Alaska Anchorage and Lauren Breihof of Western Washington.

Kipngeno finished 14th in a time of 21:16.7 and Keino was 39th in 21:58.2. Breihof placed 31st in 21:48.7.

In addition to SPU, UAA and WWU in the women's division and WWU in the men's division, Chico State's men (8th) and women (6th) also earned Top Eight team finishes.

Under the system currently in place, that means the West Region will receive six women's team berths and four men's team berths in the 2010 national meet up from the four women's berths and three men's berths it received this season.

Men - Adams State 23, Western State 86, Colorado Mines 153, Western Washington 170, Grand Valley 185, Southern Indiana 228, Queens (NC) 256, Chico State 284, Harding 296, Augustana 313 (17. Alaska Anchorage 415). All-Americans (10,000 Meters) - 1. Reuben Mwei, Adams State, 30:27.8; 13. Jordan Welling, WWU, 31:44.6; 35. Chris Reed, WOU, 32:28.5; 38. Barak Watson, NNU, 32:30.1; 40. Micah Chelimo, UAA, 32:34.3. Others - 42. Marko Cheseto, UAA, 32:38.8; 45. Anthony Tomsich, WWU, 32:44.7; 52. Eric Brill, WWU, 32:48.6; 56. Bennett Grimes, WWU, 32:53.7; 61. Blake Medhaug, WWU, 32:59.9; 79. Greg Kubitz, WWU, 33:18.0; 94. Alfred Kangogo, UAA, 33:39.6; 97. Yonas Berhe, WWU, 33:41.5; 143. Michael Adams, UAA, 34:56.4; 174. William Estes, UAA, 36:42.5; 180. Paul Rottich, UAA, 37:26.5.

Women - Adams State 73, Grand Valley State 81, Missouri Southern 104, Seattle Pacific 151, Alaska Anchorage 158, Chico State 172, Minnesota Duluth 294, Western Washington 300, Western State 306, Tampa 308. All-Americans (6,000 Meters) - 1. Jessica Pixler, SPU, 20:22.6; 2. Sarah Porter, WWU, 20:30.1; 14. Miriam Kipngeno, UAA, 21:16.7; 31. Lauren Breihof, WWU, 21:48.7; 39. Ruth Keino, UAA, 21:58.2. Others - 45. Hallidie Wilt, UAA, 22:09.9; 46. Suzie Strickler, SPU, 22:11.5; 47. Jane Larson, SPU, 22:12.0; 49. Natty Plunkett, SPU, 22:12.5; 53. Shoshana Keegan, UAA, 22:16.3; 62. Kate Harline, SPU, 22:24.8; 63. Laura Carr, UAA, 22:27.1; 65. Courtney Olsen, WWU, 22:30.2; 80. Lisa Anderberg, SPU, 22:43.5; 112. Kirsten Moore, WWU, 23:13.1; 152. Emma Bohman, UAA, 23:58.5; 153. Sierra Brisky, WWU, 24:02.0; 163. Mary Williams, SPU, 24:15.3; 166. Danielle Slaughter, WWU,24:31.7; 172. Ariel Roelle, UAA, 24:54.0; 181. Emily Wallen, WWU, 26:09.4.

WWU's Halsell, UAA's Friess Voted GNAC Coaches-of-the-Year


Halsell	Friess

Kelven “Pee Wee” Halsell of Western Washington and Michael Friess of Alaska Anchorage and have been voted the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men's and Women's Cross Country Coaches-of-the-Year, respectively.

Halsell and Friess each led their teams to GNAC titles this fall and to national-qualifying finishes in the NCAA Division II West Regional championships at San Francisco, Calif.

Halsell's men placed second at the regional and Friess' women captured Alaska Anchorage's first-ever West Region cross country title. The award is the fourth men's cross country GNAC Coach-of-the-Year award for Halsell, who was also selected in 2003, 2006 and 2007.

In all, Halsell, who is in his 23 rd year at WWU after graduating from Wayland Baptist in 1981, has won eight GNAC Coach-of-the-Year awards including two in men's indoor track and field (2005, 2006), one in men's outdoor track and field (2005) and one in women's outdoor track and field (2009).

Friess has now won eight cross country Coach-of-the-Year awards (seven in the GNAC) and 10 total during his 20-year career at Anchorage. Friess, a 1985 Linfield College graduate, was also voted the GNAC Men's Coach of the Year in 2002, 2005 and 2008 and was selected the GNAC Women's Coach of the Year for three consecutive seasons between 2003 and 2005.

He was also named the PacWest Men's Coach of the Year in 1997 and the GNAC Outdoor Track and Field Men's Coach-of-the-Year in both 2008 and 2009.

Both Halsell and Friess will be traveling to Evansville, Indiana, this week along with both their men's and women's teams to compete in Saturday's NCAA Division II national meet. UAA takes a No. 3 women's and a No. 19 men's national ranking into the meet, while WWU's men are ranked sixth and its women are ranked 11th.

Pixler, Cheseto, Friess Receive NCAA Division II Regional Cross Country Awards


Pixler	Cheseto

Jessica Pixler of Seattle Pacific and Marko Cheseto of Alaska Anchorage have been voted the NCAA Division II Female and Male West Region Cross Country Athletes of the Year for the 2009 season by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

UAA coach Michael Friess was selected the Division II Female Team Coach of the Year. Gary Townse, who led Chico State to its eighth straight West Region team title, won the Male Coach of the Year award.

Pixler, the two-time defending NCAA national champion, won her fourth straight regional title last Saturday (Nov. 7) at San Francisco, covering the 6,000 meter distance in a time of 20:08.9. She broke her own course record on the Golden Gate Park layout that she set earlier this season in winning the San Francisco State Invitational in a time of 20:36.4.

Pixler has now won 10 championship races in 11 tries during her collegiate career, including four GNAC, four West Region and two NCAA titles. She finished 10th as a freshman in the NCAA meet.

Cheseto. a junior from Kapenguria, Kenya, won the GNAC and West Region championships this fall in times of 24:50 (8,000 meters) and 30:42.5 (10,000 meters), respectively.

The GNAC title was his second as he became the first athlete in GNAC history to win two men's cross country titles. He finished second in the West Regional in 2008.

Friess earned the Regional Coach of the Year award after leading the Seawolves to GNAC and West Regional titles. UAA placed five runners in the top seven in winning the GNAC title with a team score of 25, then had five in the top 14 at the regional meet in posting a team score of 35.

The regional award was the first for Friess in his 20-year tenure as head coach for the Seawolves. The 1985 graduate of Linfield College is a six-time GNAC Coach of the Year award winner.

Next week Friess will take both of his teams to Evansville, Indiana to participate in the NCAA national meet. His women's team is ranked third in this week's national poll and his men are ranked 19th.

They will be among five GNAC teams competing at Evansville on Saturday, Nov. 21. Also representing the conference in the men's race will be nationally sixth-ranked Western Washington.

Chris Reed of Western Oregon will compete as an individual. The Wolves, who are ranked 22nd in the pre-national poll, finished fourth in the regional meet just missing a national berth. Also competing as an individual will be Barak Watson of Northwest Nazarene.

On the women's side, in addition to the third-ranked Seawolves, No. 6 Seattle Pacific and No. 11 Western Washington will make the trip to Evansville.

Seventy-Four Earn GNAC Academic All-Conference Honors

A total of 74 student-athletes – 24 men and 50 women - have been named to the 2009 Great Northwest Athletic Conference cross country all-academic team.

Heading up the women's academic squad are two players with perfect 4.00 GPAs – Arielle Rolle of Alaska Anchorage and Krinda Carlson of Saint Martin's. Justin Karr of Western Oregon has the best GPA (3.99) among the 23 men selected to the squad.

Fifteen of the athletes – 12 women and three men - were all honored for the third time. Twenty others were repeat selections.

2009 GNAC Cross Country Meet Stories / GNAC Season Preview