Friday, October 25, 2013

MONMOUTH, Ore. - Alaska Anchorage’s Dylan Anthony and Isaac Kangogo will each be seeking their third consecutive GNAC Top 10 finishes and the nationally eighth-ranked Seawolves will be gunning for their fourth straight men’s team title Saturday when the GNAC Championships are held at the Ash Creek Preserve cross country course on the campus of Western Oregon University.

Meanwhile, Susan Tanui, who won GNAC and NCAA Division II West Regional titles a year ago and finished second in the NCAA Division II national meet, will lead the Seawolves as they try to win their fifth consecutive women’s championship.

The women's race begins at 9:45 a.m. followed by the men's race at 10:45 a.m. (Official Meet Program)

The UAA women are ranked fifth nationally and return four athletes who placed in the top six in last year’s conference meet – Tanui (1st), Ivy O’Guinn (3rd), Sarah Freistone (4th) and Susan Bick (6th).  Last year Tanui ran the fastest time in meet history (20:37.29) and led the Seawolves to a near-perfect team score of 16.

UAA has won six men’s team titles in the 12-year history of the meet.  They’ve also won five consecutive individual titles (three by Marko Cheseto and two by Micah Chelimo) and Anthony will be trying to extend that streak on the 8,000-meter layout.

Anthony, who finished fifth last season, has made three starts this fall finishing first in a dual with BYU-Hawaii and in invitationals at Chaminade and most recently at Willamette.  He ran a time of 24:20.34 at Willamette, which is the quickest 8,000-meter time by a GNAC athlete this fall.

Isaac Kangogo placed ninth a year ago earning him his second all-conference award and the sixth for his family.  Brother Alfred (2008-09, 11-12) is one of six GNAC male athletes to win four.

In addition to the two Alaska Anchorage athletes, Chip Jackson of Western Washington is the only other returning men's all-conference performer (Top 10 finish) from a year ago.  He placed fourth which is the highest finish by a returning male athlete.  He has led WWU to a fourth-place regional ranking and a No. 22 national ranking this fall.

Jackson is coming off a fifth place finish two weeks ago at the 40th annual Western Washington Viking Classic when he was the first collegian to cross the finish line in a 10,000-meter time of 32:03.

Anthony is one of four GNAC men to win a race this season.

Robert Peterson of Montana State Billings finished first in two races at Fairbanks and has helped the Yellowjackets earn a fifth-place West Regional ranking, its best in school history.  MSUB was among “others receiving votes” and was 31st overall in the latest national poll.

Brian Beagley of Western Oregon finished first in the WOU Ash Creek Invitational and placed second two weeks ago in leading the Wolves to a team title at Pacific Lutheran. 

Saint Martin’s Joe Berger finished first at the SMU Invitational and Northwest Nazarene’s Chase Cunningham finished first in the Roger Curran Invitational at Nampa.

UAA’s women might be even stronger this year than last season when they posted a near-perfect team score of 16 in the conference meet. 

The only athlete to beat Tanui in three races this fall is teammate Joyce Kipchumba, who outraced her in a 5,000-meter race at Willamette, posting a second-place time of 17:42.67.  Kipchumba is a transfer from American International University.

Tanui finished first in her only other two starts, both in Hawaii.  She was clocked in a 5K time of 18:14 in a dual with BYU-Hawaii and in a 3.1-mile time of 18:13 at the Chaminade Invitational.  ran a time of 17:44.51 at Willamette.

UAA’s top challenger should be Simon Fraser, which is ranked sixth nationally and has had a trio of second place finishes this fall at the University of Washington Sundodger, the Erik Anderson Invitational in Spokane and at the Stanford Invitational.  SFU is currently ranked second in the West in back of UAA.

The Clan’s Lindsey Butterworth will be seeking her third consecutive GNAC Top 10 finish as will UAA’s O’Guinn.  Butterworth finished fifth last season.  Her best finishes this fall have third at the University of Washington Sundodger and fifth at the Eric Anderson.

Also back for SFU is Kansas Mackenzie, who placed ninth a year ago to earn all-conference honors.

The Clan’s Kirsten Allen finished 19th last season, but has been challenging Butterworth all year and finished 11 seconds ahead of her two weeks ago at the Western Washington University Viking Invitational.  WWU’s Katelyn Steen was the GNAC’s top finisher in that race placing fifth in a time of 22:04.

In addition to Tanui, two other GNAC athletes have won two races this fall.  Seattle Pacific’s McKayla Fricker finished first in two races in early September in Fairbanks.  Annie Wade of Western Oregon had first-place finishes at the WOU Ash Creek and at Pacific Lutheran.

USTFCCCA POLLS: National: Men – 8. Alaska Anchorage, 22. Western Washington, 31. MSU Billings.  Women – 5. Alaska Anchorage, 6. Simon Fraser; 32. Western Washington. West Region: 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.

NNU's Evans Sets School Record Time at Lewiston

Northwest Nazarene’s Natalie Evans ran a school-record time last Saturday, covering the 5-kilometer course in 17:31 to finish fifth overall at the Inland Empire Classic at Lewiston. Evans  broke the NNU school record of 17:46 set by Ashley Puga in 2007.

Evans’ efforts, along with a Top 20 finish by teammate Hailey Bradshaw who was 19th overall in a personal-best time of 18:26, helped the Crusader women finish sixth as a team with 133 points in the small school division of the meet.

In the men’s race, the Crusaders finished eighth as a team with 208 points, as Chase Cunningham and Kaleb Fleenor led the way, finishing 43rd and 45th overall, each clocking times of 25:44 on the 8K course.

In the Emerald City Open, Alex Nelson of Saint Martin's finished 33rd (27:37.5) and Anna de Carteret of Central Washington placed 44th (25:19.2) for the best times by GNAC athletes.

LCSC Inland Empire (Oct. 19 at Lewiston): Men-   Lewis-Clark State 48, Eastern Oregon 53, College of Idaho 85, Rocky Mountain 111, Carroll 123, Calgary 151, Spokane CC 175, Northwest Nazarene 208, Great Falls 222.  Individuals (8,000 Meters) – 1. Greg Montgomery, Andrija’s, 23:11; 43. Chase Cunningham, NNU, 25:44; 45. Kaleb Fleenor, NNU, 25:44; 60. Michael Gordon, NNU, 26:16.  Women – College of Idaho 31, Lewis-Clark State 92, Carroll 97, Rocky Mountain 104, Calgary 110, Northwest Nazarene 133, Spokane CC 164, Eastern Oregon 196, Great Falls 239.  Individuals (5,000 Meters) – 1. Hillary Holt, College of Idaho, 16:42; 5. Natalie Evans, NNU, 17:31; 19. Hailey Bradshaw, NNU, 18:26; 22. Susanna Fleming, NNU, 18:34.

Emerald City Open (Oct. 19 at Seattle): Men (Non-Division 1) – Club Northwest 22 Seattle Running Club 51, Saint Martin’s 84, Dark Horse 88, Olympic CC 125, Guerilla Running 140, Central Washington inc.  Individuals (8,000) – 1. Colby Gilbert, unat., 25:20.4; 35. Alex Nelson, SMU, 27:37.5; 47. Paul Young, CWU, 28:47.4; 51. Josiah Shelman, SMU, 29:13.2.  Women (Non-Division 1) – Club Northwest 17, Seattle Running Club 59, Saint Martin’s 79, Trinity Lutheran 95, Central Washington inc.   Individuals (6,000 Meters) – 1. Kimber Lemon, CNW, 22:01.5; 44. Anna deCarteret, CWU, 25:19.2; 50. Megan Teigen, SMU, 25:48.0; 52. Erika Crock, SMU, 25:59.5; 55. Justine Malek, SMU, 26:23.7.