Wednesday, September 25, 2013

PORTLAND, Ore. - Alaska Anchorage and Simon Fraser maintained their fifth and sixth place rankings in this week’s USTFCCCA women’s national poll. 

UAA also maintained its No. 9 ranking in the men’s national poll. 

There was just one change in the NCAA Division II West Regional women’s poll as Seattle Pacific and Cal Baptist switched places with the Falcons falling to ninth and Cal Baptist rising to eighth.  Alaska Anchorage, Simon Fraser and Western Washington held on to their No. 1, 2 and 7 slots.   

In the men’s regional poll, there were no changes.  Alaska Anchorage and Western Washington stayed at No. 2 and No. 6, respectively.  MSU Billings and Western Oregon stayed at No. 9 and No. 10.

The Yellowjackets remained at No. 9 despite having the best finish by a Division II school in last Saturday's Erik Anderson Invitational in Spokane and finishing ahead of third-ranked Humboldt State and No. 6 Western Washington. MSUB also ended up ahead of seventh-ranked Cal Baptist in the Division II standings though the PacWest school did finish ahead of MSUB in the overall standings.

Only four conference teams will be in action this Saturday.

Three GNAC teams are entered in the Saint Martin’s Invitational  at Lacey.  Joining the host Saints in the meet will be Seattle Pacific and Alaska Fairbanks. 

Meanwhile, Simon Fraser will head to California to compete in the Stanford Invitational.  The GNAC’s other six teams are all idle.

USTFCCCA POLLS: National (Sept.  25): Men – 9. Alaska Anchorage. Women – 5. Alaska Anchorage, 6. Simon Fraser   West Region (Sept. 24): Men - 1. Chico State; 2. Alaska Anchorage; 3. Humboldt State; 4. Cal Poly Pomona; 5. UC San Diego;  6. Western Washington; 7. Cal Baptist; 8. San Francisco State; 9. Montana State Billings; 10. Western Oregon.  Women - 1. Alaska Anchorage; 2. Simon Fraser; 3. Chico State; 4. Cal State Stanislaus; 5. UC San Diego; 6. Humboldt State; 7. Western Washington; 8. Cal Baptist; 9. Seattle Pacific; 10. Cal State San Bernardino. 

GNAC RED LION ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Male – Michael Luhr, MSU Billings (Jr., Gillette, WY) finished 14th overall and fourth among Division II athletes in the Erik Anderson Invitational Saturday at Spokane.  Luhr posted a time of 26:07.55 on the Plantes Ferry course which will be the site of the NCAA West Regional Nov. 9 and the NCAA National Nov. 23.  With Luhr leading the way, MSUB finished fifth overall and first among Division II teams including regionally third-ranked Humboldt State, sixth-ranked Western Washington, No. 7 Cal Baptist and No. 10 Western Oregon.

Women – Kirsten Allen, Simon Fraser (Sr., London, Ont. – Saunders) finished seventh at the Erik Anderson Invitational, earning her second seventh place finish in two weeks.  In the process, she closed the gap on teammate Lindsay Butterworth from 16 seconds to seven.  Butterworth finished fifth after earning a third place finish last week at the University of Washington Sundodger.  Butterworth and Allen finished 1-2 among Division II athletes as the Clan finished second in the team standings in back of Division I Lipscomb University.

Honorable Mention – Michael Gordon, Northwest Nazarene (Jr., Kuna, ID) led the Crusaders to a sixth-place finish at the College of Idaho Twilight Invitational finishing 21st in a time of 27:28.78 ... Connie Morgan, Central Washington (So., Tieton, WA) finished 22nd overall and fifth among GNAC athletes in the Erik Anderson Invitational in a time of 22:43.26 ...  Natalie Evans, Northwest Nazarene (Sr., New Plymouth, ID) was the Crusaders’ top finisher for the third week in a row, placing eighth at the Coyote Invitational in a time of 19:22.94.

5 TEAM BERTHS AVAILABLE FOR NATIONALS: The NCAA Division II West Regional Nov. 9 at Plantes Ferry Sports Stadium will qualify five teams (per gender) for the national meet Nov. 23 at the same site.  In addition, the top three individuals not on one of the five qualifying teams will also advance to the national meet hosted by the GNAC.

LAST WEEK’S RECAPS

Spokane Erik Anderson Invitational (Sept. 21 at Spokane): Men– Lipscomb 40, Gonzaga 77, Lewis-Clark State 108, Cal Baptist 125, MSU Billings 138, Unattached-Gonzaga 141, Humboldt State 179, Simon Fraser 197, Western Oregon 307, Whitman 337 (11. Western Washington 344, 13. Central Washington 377).  Individuals (8,000 Meters) – 1. Sam Atkin, LCSC, 25:14.03; 14. Michael Luhr, MSUB, 26:07.55; 21. Robert Peterson, MSUB, 26:26.01; 26. James Young, SFU, 26:30.84; 30. Jamon Rodrigues, MSUB, 26:33.70; 33. Cameron Proceviat, SFU, 26:37.11.  Women – Lipscomb 20, Simon Fraser 65, Gonzaga 71, Colorado – Colorado Springs 110, Lewis-Clark State 169, Whitworth 208, Humboldt State 218, Cal Baptist 239, Western Washington  272, Central Washington 287 (12. Western Oregon and MSU Billings 375).  Individuals (6,000 Meters) – 1.  Dani Walker, Lipscomb, 21:39.83; 5. Lindsay Butterworth, SFU, 21:59.09; 7. Kirsten Allen, SFU, 22:06.17; 12. Kansas MacKenzie, SFU, 22:25.21; 19. Katelyn Steen, WWU, 22:37.29; 22. Connie Morgan, CWU, 22:43.26.

College of Idaho Invitational (Sept. 21 at Caldwell): Men – Eastern Oregon 52, Northwest Christian 54, Oregon Tech 68, College of Idaho 92, Concordia 103, Northwest Nazarene 160, Corban 175, Northwest 210.  Individuals (8,000 Meters) – 1. Greg Montgomery, unat., 25:45.03; 21. Michael Gordon, NNU, 27:28.78; 22. Chase Cunningham, NNU, 27:29.34.

Women - College of Idaho 27, Northwest Christian 48, Northwest Nazarene 104, Corban 113, Concordia 132, Northwest 157, Oregon Tech 167, Eastern Oregon 179.  Individuals (5,000 Meters) – 1. Hillary Holt, College of Idaho, 18:30.60; 8. Natalie Evans, NNU, 19:22.94; 14, Susanna Fleming, NNU, 19:40.40.

Oak Knoll Loop Run (Sept. 21 at Independence, OR): Men – Portland State 36, Clackamas 47, Portland 71, Willamette 84, Mt. Hood 145, Western Oregon 173, Evergreen State 178.  Individuals (8,000 Meters) – 1. Keegan Symmes, unat., 24:57.90; 36. Josh Hanna, WOU, 27:33.82; 39. Kyle Chapman, WOU, 27:50.69.  Women – Portland State 37, Portland 44, Willamette 51, Western Oregon 125, Clackamas 149, Mt. Hood 160. Individuals (5,000 Meters) – 1. Michaela Freeby, WU, 17:23.16; 18. Bailey Beeson, WOU, 19:01.90; 19.  Jenny Leaf, WOU, 19:06.35.