Saturday, November 7, 2015

MONMOUTH, Ore. – The GNAC will send five team representatives to Joplin, Mo., in two weeks as the conference led the way in the 2015 NCAA Division II West Regional Cross Country Championships, held at Western Oregon University’s Ash Creek Preserve.

Alaska Anchorage claimed individual titles in both the men’s and women’s races and the Seawolves’ men won the men’s team championship with a score of 55 points. Western Washington was the top placing GNAC women’s team, finishing second with a score of 165 points.

The Seawolves will send both teams to nationals as they placed third in the women’s competition with 201 points. Seattle Pacific also punched their ticket, finishing fifth with 207 points. Central Washington just missed out of the five women’s team qualifiers, placing sixth with 212 points.

Simon Fraser joins Alaska Anchorage as men’s championship qualifiers. The Clan finished fourth, claiming the last automatic qualifying spot with 107 points.

Alaska Anchorage finished 1-2 individually in both races. Sophomore Henry Cheseto claimed his second straight west region title, covering the 10,000-meter course in a time of 29:29.82. Dominik Notz was just three seconds behind with his second place time of 29:32.63. In all, Alaska Anchorage placed all five runners in the top-25 with a time gap of 1 minute, 14 seconds.

Simon Fraser’s Oliver Jorgensen placed fifth in a time of 29:59.40, while Edwin Kangogo gave UAA three runners in the top-10, placing eighth in 30:06.78. Western Oregon’s David Ribich qualified for his first NCAA championship, placing 11th in 30:11.95.

In the women’s race, Joyce Chelimo claimed her second title in as many races. Finishing second in the regional two weeks ago, she returned after a redshirt year to cover the 6,000-meter course in a winning time of 20:42.34. Caroline Kurgat placed second in 20:59.57.

In the team race, however, it was the Vikings’ day to shine. Taylor Guenther led WWU with a sixth place finish in 21:21.29 and placed four runners in the top-50 to help sew up their second place team finish.

Seattle Pacific’s Anna Patti put together her best race of the season to help the Falcons’ secure their third nationals trip in four years. Patti placed fourth in a time of 21:15.71. Simon Fraser’s Rebecca Bassett claimed an individual invitation with her ninth place time of 21:28.20.

Chico State and Cal Poly Pomona will join the GNAC men’s teams at nationals. Chico State placed second with 79 points and Cal Poly Pomona finished third with 81 points. Chico State claimed the women’s regional title with 89 points. Cal Baptist earned the other national team qualifier, placing fourth with 203 points.

The top 25 finishers in each race are recognized as All-West Region performers. Other GNAC men making the all-region list are Montana State Billings’ Robert Peterson (13th), Western Washington’s Andrew Wise (14th), Simon Fraser’s Marc-Antoine Rouleau (16th) and Cameron Proceviat (17th), Alaska Anchorage’s Victor Samoei (20th), Nathan Kipchumba (24th) and Michael Mendenhall (25th) and Northwest Nazarene’s Isaac Mitchell (23rd).

Other GNAC women earning all-region honors include Central Washington’s Dani Eggleston (13th) and Megan Rogers (18th) and Seattle Pacific’s Mary Charleston (20th).