Monday, November 6, 2023
by Thomas Lal

PORTLAND, Ore. – It is well known in the running world that the west region is stacked. The Western Washington women’s cross country team proved that it belongs on top of that stack last week, winning the program’s first West Regional title on Saturday and running to GNAC Team of the Week honors.

After a dominant victory at the GNAC Championships in Anchorage, Alaska on Oct. 21, the Vikings kept the momentum rolling by topping the 24-team field at the NCAA Divison II West Region Cross Country Championships at the Ash Creek Preserve in Monmouth, Ore. The Western Washington women finished with 75 points, 11 ahead of second-place Biola and 57 clear of third-place Chico State.

“Winning regionals was the culmination of years of hard work and dedication by a number of student-athletes,” Western Washington coach T.J. Garlatz said. “We were excited to come into a situation where we had a target on our back, rise the occasion and run our best race of the season. The ladies have been training amazingly hard and we were so happy for them to win regionals and accomplish the goal of qualifying for nationals.”

Among the field of 167 athletes, the Vikings placed all six of their seven scoring runners in the top 30. They were led by sophomore standout Ashley Reeck in fifth place with a 6K time of 20:54.6, just four-tenths of a second behind fourth place Della Molina of Chico State.

The result was a new personal record for Reeck in a 6K cross country race, eclipsing her PR time set at the GNAC Championships two weeks ago. Along with the time, it was also a massive leap in position for Reeck who finished 102nd at the 2022 West Region Championships. On the year, she has notched five top-10 finishes in six events, including two wins and four top-five results.

Reeck was followed by fellow sophomore Ila Davis in 11th with a time of 21:19.4 while junior Meaera Nystrom made it three Western Washington runners in the top 20 by finishing 14th in a time of 21:25.1. Juniors Sophie Wright and Emma Smith a strong cluster of  Vikings to cross the line in 24th and 26th, respectively. Wright finished with a time of 21:43.8 after hitting the 2K mark alongside Nystrom while Smith finished in a time of 21:44.9. Senior Marian Ledesma and junior Mia Crocker rounded out the scoring effort for WWU in 29th and 31st, respectively.

The West Regional victory marks Western Washington’s fourth team victory in six meets this season and its third straight win. Last week’s win also punched the Vikings’ ticket to the NCAA Division II Championships which will be held on Saturday, Nov. 18 at the Tom Rutledge XC Course in Joplin, Mo.