Wednesday, October 16, 2013

PORTLAND, Ore. - The 13th annual Great Northwest Athletic Cross Country Championships are a little more than a week away.

Just two meets are on the GNAC schedule this weekend as eight of the 10 schools will take the week off to prepare for the championship. 

The only two teams scheduled to be in action Saturday are Northwest Nazarene and Saint Martin's.

The Crusaders head to Lewiston, Idaho, for the LCSC Inland Empire Classic, while the Saints head north on I-5 to compete in the Emerald City Open hosted by Seattle University.   

Last Saturday, Western Washington's men posted a perfect team score at the 40th annual Western Washington Classic  vaulting the Vikings into the Top 25 in this week’s USTFCCCA men’s cross country national poll.  The Vikings are ranked 22nd.  

Alaska Anchorage, which was idle, remained in the No. 8 slot, while Montana State Billings, which won the Montana State Billings Invitational Saturday is among “others receiving votes” and is 31st overall. 

Simon Fraser, which placed second at Bellingham, climbed to sixth place in the women’s national poll, one spot back of Alaska Anchorage.  Western Washington is among “others receiving votes” and is ranked 32nd overall in the women’s poll.

With its win at East Lake Padden, Western Washington also made the biggest move in this week’s men’s West Regional poll climbing from seventh to fourth.  Alaska Anchorage remained at No. 2 and Western Oregon moved into the Top 10 at No. 10 as Simon Fraser, ninth last week, fell out of the Top 10. 

On the women’s side, Alaska Anchorage maintained its No. 1 ranking.  Simon Fraser, meanwhile, leapfrogged over Chico State and is now ranked second.  Western Washington moved from seventh to sixth.  Seattle Pacific, ninth last week, dropped out of the Top 10.

Wolves Sweep at PLU, MSUB Wins Own Invitational

Western Oregon swept the team titles Saturday in the Pacific Lutheran Invitational at Parkland.  Brady Beagley’s second place finish led the WOU men to a 33-39 win over Everett CC. 

Annie Wade won the women’s race as WOU outpointed Everett CC 20-50 to take team honors.

At Billings, Montana State Billings’ men outpointed Black Hills State 52-89 to win their third title of the season.  The Yellowjackets previously won two titles at Fairbanks.

USTFCCCA POLLS

National (Oct. 16): Men – 8. Alaska Anchorage, 22. Western Washington, 31. MSU Billings.  Women – 5. Alaska Anchorage, 6. Simon Fraser; 32. Western Washington.

West Region (Oct. 15): Men - 1. Chico State, 2. Alaska Anchorage, 3. Cal Poly Pomona, 4. Western Washington, 5. Montana State Billings, 6. UC San Diego, 7. Cal Baptist, 8. Humboldt State, 9. San Francisco State, 10. Western Oregon.  Women - 1. Alaska Anchorage, 2. Simon Fraser, 3. Chico State, 4. Cal State Stanislaus, 5. UC San Diego, 6. Western Washington, 7, Humboldt State, 8. San Francisco State, 9, Cal State San Bernardino, 10. Cal Baptist .

GNAC RED LION ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Male – Chip Jackson, Western Washington (Sr., Shoreline, WA – Shorewood) led the Vikings to a perfect team score in the 40th annual Western Washington Cross Country Classic, covering the 10,000-meter layout in a time of 32:03.  Jackson was the first collegiate finisher and placed fifth overall.

Female – Annie Wade, Western Oregon (Jr., Condon, OR – Wheeler) finished first in the Pacific Lutheran University Invitational in a 6,000-meter time of 22:28.32, leading the Wolves to a first-place finish with a team score of 20.

Honorable Mention – Brady Beagley, Western Oregon (Sr., Grants Pass, OR – North Valley) finished second in the Pacific Lutheran Invitational in a 8,000-meter time of 26:11.89 to lead the Wolves to a first-place team finish ... Robert Peterson, MSU Billings (So., Billings, MT – Skyview) finished fifth in the MSUB Yellowjacket Invitational in a school course record time of 24:53.6.

LAST WEEK’S RECAPS

40th annual Western Washington University Cross Country Classic (Oct. 12 at East Lake Padden Park, Bellingham): Men – Western Washington 15, British Columbia 61, Trinity Western 85, Central Washington 132, Simon Fraser 134, Club Northwest 136, Alaska Fairbanks 168, CNW M50 265.  Individuals (10,000 Meters) – 1. Luc Bruchet, Point Grey TFC, 30:57; 5. Chip Jackson, WWU, 32:03; 6. Nathan Richards, WWU, 32:15; 7. Tanner Boyd, WWU, 32:18; 8. Dylan Peterson, WWU, 32:22; 9. Ike Griffith, WWU, 32:23. Women – Greater Bellingham RC 75, Simon Fraser 78, Trinity Western 80, Victoria 84, British Columbia 99, Western Washington 139, Club Northwest 164, Central Washington 181, Alaska Fairbanks 275, UBC Okanogan 278. Individuals (6,000 Meters) – 1. Sarah Inglis, Trinity Western, 21:31; 5. Katelynn Steen, WWU, 22:04; 6. Kirsten Allen, SFU, 22:10; 10. Lindsey Butterworth, SFU, 22:21; 13. Connie Morgan, CWU, 22:33; 20. Rebecca Bassett, SFU, 22:45.

Pacific Lutheran Invitational (Oct. 12 at Parkland): Men – Western Oregon 33, Everett CC 39, Green River 111, Pacific Lutheran 115, Trinity Western 148, Evergreen State 156, Olympic 184, Puget Sound 201. Individuals (8,000 Meters) – 1. Alan DenAdel, PLU, 25:50.07; 2. Brady Beagley, WOU, 26:11.89; 3. Zach Holloway, WOU, 26:14.76; 4. Houston Horner, WOU, 26:23.81. Women – Western Oregon 20, Everett CC 50, Pacific Lutheran 82, Puget Sound 88, Trinity Lutheran 154, Green River 163.  Individuals (6,000 Meters) – 1. Annie Wade, WOU, 22:28.32; 2. Stephanie Stuckey, WOU, 22:49.95; 4. Rachel Shelley, WOU, 23:14.85; 6. Bailey Beeson, WOU, 23:37.09; 7. Jenny Leaf, WOU, 23:38.00; 8. Rachel Crawford, WOU, 23:38.77.

MSU Billings Invitational (Oct. 12 at Billings): Men – MSU Billings 52, Black Hills State 89, Mary 93, Dickinson State 94, Rocky Mountain 108, Great Falls 149, Gillette 162, South Dakota Mines 182, Minot State 222. Individuals (8,000 Meters) – 1. Cesar Mireles, unat., 24:26.3; 5. Robert Peterson, MSUB, 24:53.6; 6. Michael Luhr, MSUB, 24:56.5; 8. Jamon Rodrigues. MSUB, 25:01.3. Women – Mary 29, MSU Billings 81, Rocky Mountain 97, MSUB Alumni 117, Black Hills State 134, Gillette 146, Minot State 150, Great Falls 192, Dickinson State 211, South Dakota Mines 216. Individuals (5,000 Meters) – 1. Jennifer Agnew, Mary, 16:51.8; 4. Jinise Osborne, MSUB, 18:23.4; 5. Renae Hepfner, MSUB, 18:24.3; 18. Rio Frame, MSUB, 18:57.7.