Wednesday, October 8, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. -   With the GNAC Championship meet just three weeks away, all seven of the conference’s teams  - three men’s and four women’s - that are ranked in this week’s NCAA West Regional rankings head to Bellingham Saturday to compete in the 41st Viking Cross Country Classic at Lake Padden Park.

Its a race that certainly could be looked on as a preview for the GNAC championship meet which will be held Nov. 1 at Monmouth, Ore.

In this week’s men’s regional rankings, Alaska Anchorage is ranked second for the third week in a row.  Western Washington is ranked fifth and Simon Fraser is seventh.

Led by No. 2 Simon Fraser, four GNAC women’s teams are ranked including Western Washington (5th), Central Washington (6th) and Alaska Anchorage (7th).

Four of the seven are also ranked in this week’s USTFCCCA national poll.

Alaska Anchorage’s men are ranked seventh and Simon Fraser’s women are ranked eighth.  Western Washington’s men and women are ranked 25th and 23rd, respectively.

In addition to Alaska Anchorage, Simon Fraser, Central Washington and the host Vikings, the field will also include GNAC members Western Oregon and Seattle Pacific.

Also competing Saturday will be British Columbia, Everett CC, Thompson Rivers, Trinity Western, Skagit Valley CC and Victoria.

The men’s 10,000-meter race will begin at 10 a.m. followed by the women’s 6K at 11 a.m.  

Those are the same distances the athletes will run in late November at the NCAA West Regional at Amend Park in Billings.

One GNAC team -  Saint Martin’s - will compete in the George Fox Invitational at Newberg, Ore. Saturday

Last week GNAC teams competed at three venues.

Montana State Billings swept the team titles at the MSUB Yellowjacket Invitational at Amend Park as the Yellowjackets’ Robert Peterson  and Nocona Frame finished first in times of 25:18.83 (8,000 meters) and 22:25.65 (6,000 meters).

At Bush Park in Salem, Central Washington’s Dani Eggleston was the top collegiate finisher (and second overall) in the women’s 5,000 meter race at the Wiliamette Charles Bowles Invitational.

The top GNAC finisher in the men’s 8,000 meters was Isaac Mitchell of Northwest Nazarene, who placed 28th in an 8,000-meter time of 25:31.2.

Central Washington finished fifth in the men’s team race and third in the women’s for the top finishes by GNAC teams.

CWU also competed at the Pacific Lutheran University Invitational, finishing in a tie for second in the women’s team competition.

LAST WEEK’S SUMMARIES

Willamette Charles Bowles (Oct. 4 at Bush Park, Salem, OR): Men – Oregon 16, Chico State 40, Willamette 131, Christopher Newport 177, Central Washington 180 (8. Northwest Nazarene 231, 9. Alaska 237, Western Oregon inc.). Individuals (8,000 Meters) – 1. John Gregorek, unat., 23:54.0; 28. Isaac Mitchell, NNU, 25:31.2; 32. Rudy Spencer, CWU, 25:43.6; 37. John Wojtech, CWU, 25:55.1; 42. Kaleb Javie, CWU, 26:06.0; 44. Mitch Burgess, UAF, 26:09.9. Women – Chico State 45, Willamette 52. Central Washington 87, Whitworth 128, Puget Sound 164 (8. Western Oregon 224, 11. Alaska  315, 12. Northwest Nazarene 320).  Individuals (5,000 Meters) – 1. Ayla Granados, unat., 17:37.8; 2. Dani Eggleston, CWU, 17:55.1; 8. Connie Morgan, CWU, 18:18.8; 13. Megan Rogers, CWU, 18:24.5; 22. Rachel Crawford, WOU, 18:39.4).

Pacific Lutheran University (Oct. 4 at Tacoma):  Men – Green River 25, Pacific Lutheran 36, Olympic 82, Multnomah 94, Central Washington inc.  Individuals (8,000 Meters) – 1. Destry Johnson, unat., 26:28.81; 28. Harry Engel, CWU, 30:12.78.  Women – Pacific Lutheran 28, Central Washington 51, Olympic 51.  Individuals (6,000 Meters) – 1. Sayaka Yoshinaga,  unat., 22:12.36; 9. Anna deCarteret, CWU, 24:58.88.

MSU Billings Yellowjacket Invitational (Oct. 3 at Amend Park, Billings): Men – MSU Billings 17, Great Falls 53, Rocky Mountain 95, Central Wyoming 100.  Individuals (8,000 Meters) – 1.  Robert Peterson, MSUB, 25:18.83; 2. Michael Luhr, MSUB, 25:52.27; 3. Jamon Rodriguez, MSUB, 25:59.92; 4. Garrett Love, MSUB, 26:15.19.  Women – MSU Billings 20, Rocky Mountain 41, Great Falls 75, Dickinson State inc., Westminster inc.  Individuals (6,000 Meters) – 1. Nocona Frame, MSUB, 22:25.65; 2. Renae Hepfner, MSUB, 22:51.46; 4. Rio Frame, MSUB, 23:32.02.

GNAC ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Men – Isaac Mitchell, Northwest Nazarene (Fr., Sandy, OR) had the best finish by a GNAC athlete in the Willamette Charles Bowles Invitational covering the 8,000-meter course in a time 25:32.2, shaving 61 seconds off his previous collegiate-best time at that distance. 

Women – Dani Eggleston, Central Washington (Jr., Longview, WA – R.A. Long) was the top collegiate finisher placing second over in the Willamette Charles Bowles Invitational and leading the Wildcats to a third-place team finish.  Eggleston covered the 5,000-meter layout in a time in a time of 17:55.1.