GNAC Cross Country

2011 Cross Country Athletes-of-the-Week


Potter	Plunkett

Week of Aug. 29-Sept. 4: Male - Brian Potter, Montana State Billings (Jr., Manhattan, MT) won a pair of races in Fairbanks, winning the UAF Long-Course Invitational Thursday in an 8,000-meter time of 26:16.4 and the UAF Short-Course Invitational Saturday in a time of 12:49.4. Female – Natty Plunkett, Seattle Pacific (Sr., Bellevue, WA – Newport) also swept the two UAF events in 6K and 4K times of 22:59.5 and 15:14.3. The wins were Plunkett's second and third career victories. She also won the long-course event last year at Fairbanks.


Yilma	Keino

Week of Sept. 5-11: Male - Yonatan Yilma, Alaska Anchorage (Sr., Edmonds, WA – Woodway & Everett CC) and Jordan Wolfe, Seattle Pacific (Fr., Bend, Ore.). . .Yilma won his second race in Hawaii in two weeks leading the Seawolves to a perfect team score of 15 for the second week in a row. He won the Hawaii Big Wave in a 5,000-meter time of 15:45.70. A week earlier, he won the Hawaii Pacific Invitational in a 8,000-meter time of 26:15. . . Wolfe won the Apple Ridge Invitational cross country race covering the 6,000 meter course in a time of 20:15. Wolfe made his move near the midpoint of the race in leading the SPU men to their third victory in as many meets. Female – Ruth Keino, Alaska Anchorage (Sr., Kapcheno, Kenya) stayed unbeaten this fall recording her third win in three races in the Hawaii Big Wave Invitational. She covered the 5,000-meter layout in a time of 18:38.32, finishing 12 seconds ahead of teammate Susan Tanui as the Seawolves earned their third team title in three competitions.


Kasler	Smith

Week of Sept. 12-18: Male - Connor Kasler, Western Oregon (Jr., Grants Pass, OR – Hidden Valley) finished 15th in the invitational division of the UW Sundodger in an 8,000-meter time of 24:47.88 to lead the Wolves to a fourth-place team finish. Female – Jessica Smith, Simon Fraser (Sr., North Vancouver, BC – Argyle) was clocked in an 11th place 6,000-meter time of 21:42.49 leading the Clan to a fourth-place team finish.


Watson	Plunkett

Week of Sept. 19-25: Male - Barak Watson, Northwest Nazarene (Jr., Nampa, ID - Columbia) finished second in the Erik Anderson Invitational Saturday at Plantes Ferry Soccer Complex in Spokane covering the 8,000-meter layout in a time of 24:20. Watson finished 16 seconds in back of Sean Gildea of Colorado Mines on the course that will be used for the NCAA Division II West Regional and NCAA Division II national meets in November. Female – Natty Plunkett, Seattle Pacific (Sr., Bellevue, WA – Newport) ran to an eighth-place finish out of 229 runners at Plantes Ferry covering the 6,000-meter layout in a time of 21:55.1. She was the No. 1 finisher among 101 competitors representing Division II schools.


Watson	Laabs-Johnson

Week of Sept. 26-Oct. 2: Male - Barak Watson, Northwest Nazarene (Jr., Nampa, ID - Columbia) followed up his second-place finish in the Erik Anderson Invitational two weeks ago in Spokane by winning the Willamette Invitational in a time of 24:03.64. Among the teams competing at Willamette was regionally top-ranked Chico State. Female – Heidi Laabs-Johnson, Seattle Pacific (Jr., Salt Lake City, UT – Juan Diego) was the only GNAC woman to finish in the Top 10 at Willamette. The former Falcon soccer player who is in her first year of competing in cross country at SPU placed 10 th in the field of 223 in a time of 18:20.19.


Chelimo	Keino

Week of Oct. 3-9: Male - Micah Chelimo, Alaska Anchorage (Jr., Kapkoi, Kenya) won the Western Classic at Bellingham in a 10,000 meter time of 31:05. It was his second victory in four races as he also won the UAA Invitational on Sept. 1 in Anchorage. Chelimo is literally a split second from having four wins in four races this fall as he finished second to teammate Yonatan Yilma in two races in Hawaii. In the Hawaii Pacific Invitational he had the same time as Yilma and in the Hawaii Big Wave he finished one-quarter of a second behind his teammate. Female – Ruth Keino, Alaska Anchorage (Sr., Kapcheno, Kenya) won her fourth race in four starts at Bellingham, running the 6,000-meter course in a time of 21:10.


Forster	Smith

Week of Oct. 10-16: Male - Keir Forster, Simon Fraser (Sr., San Roman, CA) finished ninth in a time of 25:14 in the Concordia Adidas Cross Country Classic at Fernhill Park in Portland leading the Clan to a third-place team finish. "Keir ran a good race at a very tough course,” SFU coach Brit Townsend said. “We've been talking a lot about him being more aggressive early in races. He did that at Concordia and it paid off him." Female – Jessica Smith, Simon Fraser (Sr., North Vancouver, BC) finished second in a 5,000-meter time of 17:27 at the Concordia Adidas Cross Country Classic leading the Clan to a first-place team finish. "The course was very challenging,” Townsend said. “It was soft, with a lot of hills and a lot of turns. Jessica ran a great race and had an excellent result. She does a great job keeping herself in shape and seems to get stronger every time out.”

2001-11 Athletes of the Week