Wednesday, September 4, 2019
JUMP STARTS: While the official start to the NCAA Division II season is not until Thursday, a trio of GNAC teams got a jump start on the year with races over the Labor Day weekend.
Two of those teams, Alaska and Alaska Anchorage, raced against each other on Saturday in Fairbanks as the Nanooks hosted the Blue & Gold Run Fest. The Seawolves prevailed in both team races, scoring 17 points in both.
The Seawolves also had both individual champions, earning the duo selection as the first GNAC Athletes of the Week for 2019. Senior Emmah Chelimo won the women’s 5,000-meter race in a time of 18:33.12. It was her fifth career race victory in a UAA singlet. Junior Wesley Kirui was the winner in the men’s 7,000-meter race, clocking a time of 21:59.68. It was his fourth win since transferring to Alaska Anchorage from Division I Hampton.
Western Oregon opened 2019 with an exhibition race at the Linfield Harrier Classic on Friday. Junior transfer Andy Muha led the way for the Wolves as he placed third in the men’s 6,000-meter race in a time of 19:46.
TOP-10 LIST: The GNAC opened the season with three of its women’s teams ranked in the top-10 of the USTFCCCA Division II Coaches Preseason Poll. Defending GNAC and West Region champion Alaska Anchorage leads the way with a No. 7 ranking. Simon Fraser is ranked No. 8 while Seattle Pacific opens at No. 9. The GNAC is one of two conferences with three teams in the preseason women’s poll (the RMAC is the other). Western Washington joins the trio in the top-25, opening the season at No. 17.
MEN’S RANKINGS: Simon Fraser leads three GNAC men’s teams to earn rankings in the USTFCCCA Division II Coaches Preseason Poll. The Clan opens the season at No. 13. Alaska Anchorage is ranked No. 17 while Western Washington opens the year at No. 24.
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE: For the first time, the GNAC Championships will head east of the Rocky Mountains to Billings, Montana. The conference meet will be held on Saturday, Oct. 26, at Amend Park and is hosted by Montana State Billings. The course is familiar to GNAC teams, though, having hosted the NCAA West Regional Championships in 2014, 2016 and 2018. Western Oregon’s Ash Creek Preserve, which hosted last year’s GNAC Championships, will be the site of the NCAA West Regional Championships on Saturday, Nov. 9.
THIS WEEK'S GNAC ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
MEN
Wesley Kirui, Alaska Anchorage
Junior • Nakaru, Kenya
Kirui led Alaska Anchorage to the team victory at the Blue & Gold Run Fest with the individual victory, covering the 7,000-meter course in a time of 21:59.68. It is his fourth individual race victory in a UAA uniform as he led the Seawolves to the team title with a score of 17 points.
Also Nominated: Lukash Platil (Alaska).
WOMEN
Emmah Chelimo, Alaska Anchorage
Senior • Iten, Kenya
The defending GNAC and West Region champion opened the year with her fifth individual victory at the Blue & Gold Run Fest. She won in a time of 18:33.12 over 5,000 meters and led the Seawolves to the team title with a total of 17 points.
Also Nominated: Alex Bergholtz (Alaska).
AROUND THE GNAC
ALASKA
• Alaska opened its 2019 season with its lone home event of the season, hosting Alaska Anchorage for the Blue & Gold Run Fest at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Trails.
• The Nanooks broke up a pair of potential perfect scores for the Seawolves with a pair of fourth-place finishes. Junior Alex Bergholtz was fourth in the women’s race, covering the 5,000-meter course in 19:41.66. Junior Lukash Platil was fourth in the men’s race, covering the 7,000-meter course in 23:36.26.
• Junior Jacob Walsh showed well, placing seventh in the men’s race in a time of 23:59.16. Sophomore Anja Maijala matched the seventh-place finish in the women’s race with her time of 20:28.06.
• Alaska will travel to the Lower 48 this week, competing at the Ash Creek Invitational in Monmouth, Oregon on Friday.
ALASKA ANCHORAGE
• The Seawolves opened the season with a pair of team victories in a dual with Alaska on Saturday at the Blue & Gold Run Fest in Fairbanks.
• Senior Emmah Chelimo won her fifth race in a UAA uniform as she covered the 5,000-meter course in a time of 18:33.12. The victory earned Chelimo selection as the GNAC Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week.
• Junior Nancy Jeptoo was right with Chelimo, placing second in a time of 18:33.89. Senior Yvonne Jeschke placed a distant third in a time of 19:36.
• Junior Wesley Kirui was the winner in the men’s 7,000-meter race, finishing in a time of 21:59.68. It was the fourth individual win in a UAA singlet for Kirui, who was named the GNAC Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week.
• Junior Felix Kemboi placed second for the Seawolves in a time of 22:11.15 while Nickson Koech placed third in a time of 22:57.16.
• The Alaska Anchorage women lead three GNAC teams in the top-10 of the USTFCCCA Division II Preseason Coaches Poll, entering the season at No. 7. The UAA men enter the season ranked No. 17.
• The Seawolves do not race again until Sat., Sept. 21, when they participate in the Division II Pre-Nationals Meet in Sacramento, California.
CENTRAL WASHINGTON
• Central Washington will not open its season until Saturday, Sept. 14, when it hosts the CWU Invitational and Apple Ridge Run in Yakima, Washington.
• The Wildcats’ women enter the season ranked No. 7 in the USTFCCCA West Region rankings.
CONCORDIA
• Concordia will not open its season until Fri., Sept. 20, when it competes at the Sundowner Invitational in Monmouth, Oregon.
MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
• Montana State Billings will open its season on Saturday, traveling to Rapid City, S.D., to compete in the Hardrocker Cross Country Classic.
NORTHWEST NAZARENE
• Northwest Nazarene will open its season on Friday, competing in the CSI Invitational in Twin Falls, Idaho.
SAINT MARTIN’S
• Saint Martin’s will open its season on Sat., Sept. 14, when it competes at the CWU Invitational & Apple Ridge Run in Yakima, Washington.
SEATTLE PACIFIC
• Seattle Pacific will open its season on Sat., Sept. 21, competing at the PLU Invitational in Tacoma, Washington.
• The SPU women are one of three GNAC teams in the top-10 of the USTFCCCA Division II Coaches Preseason Poll, opening the season ranked No. 9.
SIMON FRASER
• Simon Fraser will open the 2019 season on Sat., Sept. 14, traveling to Riverside, California for the UC Riverside Invitational.
• The Simon Fraser women are one of three teams ranked in the top-10 of the USTFCCCA Division II Preseason Poll, opening the year at No. 8.
• The Clan is the highest-ranked GNAC men’s team in the USTFCCCA Preseason Coaches Poll, opening at No. 13.
WESTERN OREGON
• Western Oregon got off to an early start to the season, running an exhibition race as part of the Linfield Harrier Classic on Friday in McMinnville, Oregon.
• Junior Andy Muha, a transfer from Lane CC, placed third in his first race in a WOU singlet as he covered the 6,000-meter course in a time of 19:46. Senior Zach Kanelis was the top-placing returning runner, finishing 14th in 20:48.7.
• Senior Cassie McKinney was the Wolves’ top women’s finisher, placing 10th in a time of 16:36.3 over 4,000 meters. Sophomore Faeryn Glasscock finished 14th in a time of 17:05.7.
• Western Oregon’s men tied with Lewis & Clark in the team race with 58 points, with the Pioneers taking second in the tiebreaker 3-2. The Wolves women placed fourth with 84 points.
• Western Oregon will host the first of three home meets this season on Friday, welcoming teams for the Ash Creek Invitational on the Ash Creek Preserve in Monmouth.
WESTERN WASHINGTON
• Western Washington will open the season on Saturday, Sept. 14, competing at the CWU Invitational & Apple Ridge Run in Ellensburg, Washington.
• Both the Western Washington men and women earned rankings in the USTFCCCA Division II Preseason Polls. The Vikings’ women are ranked No. 17 while the men are ranked No. 24.