Saturday, November 23, 2013

SPOKANE, Wash.  – Alaska Anchorage earned a program-best fourth place and nine Great Northwest Athletic Conference athletes earned All-American honors with Top 40 finishes Saturday in the NCAA Division II national cross country championships at the Plantes Ferry Athletic Complex.

The meet, which was co-hosted by the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and the Spokane Regional Sports Commission, was held in Spokane for the second time in three years.

Grand Valley State won its third women's national team title in the past four years and Jennifer Agnew of the University of Mary won the women's individual title.

Four teams took the podium in the post-meet ceremonies, including Grand Valley, which finished with 54 points, runnerup Adams State (91 points), Western State, Colo. (194 points) and the Seawolves (214 points).

“We have been knocking on the door of that podium for a number of years now and to see this crew finally get a trophy is quite rewarding and I’m very happy for them,” UAA coach Michael Friess said.

UAA was led by Joyce Kipchumba, who finished 13th overall in a time of 21:27.5.  Agnew’s winning time was 20:50.7.

Also earning All-American honors for the Seawolf women was Susan Tanui, who finished 16th in a time of 21:29.9.  Tanui placed second in last year’s meet.

The top GNAC finisher was Lindsey Butterworth of Simon Fraser who placed 12th in a time of 21:23.7 to led the Clan to a seventh-place finish.

“I didn’t really know what to expect (during the race),” the SFU senior said.  “I just tried to stick with the people I knew from the GNAC and our region and it went really well.”

“Lindsey was awesome,” SFU head coach Brit Townsend said.  “It was the first time she ever finished better than every Alaska Anchorage runner.  It was a personal best time for her and in fact, our top three (Butterworth, Kirsten Allen and Emma Chadsey) all ran personal bests."

The Clan might have also challeged for a podium position, but Kansas Mackenzie had to drop out of the race with a stress fracture.

“That probably cost us 60 or 70 points.” Townsend said.

Also earning All-American honors with Top 40 finishes for GNAC schools were Connie Morgan of Central Washington, Katelyn Steen of Western Washington and Allen.

Morgan, the first CWU women to qualify for the national meet in seven years, placed 33rd in a time of 21:44.5.  Steen finished 34th in a time of 21:45.7 and Allen was 37th in a time of 21:47.8.

Steen helped lead the Vikings to an 18th place team finish.  Seattle Pacific placed 21st as Anna Patti led the Falcons, placing 72nd in a time of 22:23.3.

In the men’s race, Alaska Anchorage’s Dylan Anthony, Victor Samoei and Isaac Kangogo all finished in the Top 40 to lead the Seawolves to a seventh place team finish.

Tabor Stevens, who finished third in last year's race, led Adams State to its fifth men's team title in the past six years, winning the 10,000-meter race in a time of 29:50.1.

Anthony, who placed 23rd last year, finished 25th in a time of 31:02.6.  Samoei ended up 32nd in a time of 31:10.6 and Kangogo finished 40th in a time of 31:17.9.

Chip Jackson was Western Washington’s top finisher at 61st as the Vikings finished 20th in the team standings.

ONE MORE IN 2014: With three West Region men's teams and three women's teams finishing in the Top 8 at Saturday's meet the region will be awarded six team berths in each gender in the 2014 meet.  This year the region had five in each gender.

NCAA Division II National Cross Country Championships (Nov. 23 at Plantes Ferry, Spokane, Wash.)

Women – Grand Valley State 54, Adams State 91, Western State 194, Alaska Anchorage 214, Augustana (SD) 236, Chico State 242, Simon Fraser 251, Metro State 254, Mansfield 272, Minnesota Duluth 277 (18. Western Washington 452, 21. Seattle Pacific 492).

Top 10 Individuals (6,000 Meters) -  1. Jennifer Agnew, U-Mary, 20:50.7; 2. Jessica Macy, Pittsburg St., 21:02.1; 3. Allyson Winchester, Grand Valley, 21:05.7; 4. Tara Dooley, Bentley, 21:07.1; 5. Samantha Johnson, Ferris State, 21:07.2; 6. Lauren Martin, Adams State, 21:14.7; 7. Breanne Hemming, Metro State, 21:16.7; 8. Samantha Rivard, Minn. – Duluth, 21:17.8; 9. Jessica Janecke, Grand Valley State, 21:18.2; 10. Kristin Brondbo, 21:19.5.

GNAC All-Americans (Top 40) – 12. Lindsey Butterworth, SFU, 21:23.7; 13. Joyce Kipchumba, UAA, 21:27.5; 16. Susan Tanui, UAA, 21:29.9; 33. Connie Morgan, CWU, 21:44.5; 34. Katelyn Steen, WWU, 21:45.7;  37. Kirsten Allen, SFU, 21:47.8. 

Other GNAC Finishers – 43. Emma Chadsey, SFU, 21:51.8; 47. Ivy O’Guinn, UAA, 21:57.3; 60. Natalie Evans, NNU, 22:14.1; 69. Susan Bick, UAA, 22:21.4; 72. Anna Patti, SPU, 22:23.3; 77. Annie Wade, WOU, 22:25.4; 93. Sara Sawatzky, SFU, 22:34.6; 94. Taylor Guenther, WWU, 22:34.6; 106. McKayla Fricker, SPU, 22:40.6; 115. Lynelle Decker, SPU, 22:45.9; 117. Bryn Haebe, UAA, 22:46.7; 122. Rebecca Bassett, SFU, 22:47.5; 128. Jessica Pahkala, UAA, 22:52.0; 131. Haley O’Connor, WWU, 22:52.8; 136. Austen Reiter, WWU, 22:56.5; 138. Sarah Macdonald, SPU, 22:57.7; 144. Lillianna Stelling, WWU, 22:59.8; 157. Jasmine Johnson, SPU, 23:09.9; 170. Sofia Marikis, WWU, 23:19.1; 176. Michaela Kane, SFU, 23:22.7; 186. Hannah Calvert, SPU, 23:34.1; 195. Christi Schmitz, UAA, 23:43.0; 208. Haida Ikeda, WWU, 23:59.6; 236. Claire Rachwitz, SPU, 25:18.8.

Men - Adams State 54, Grand Valley State 104, Augustana (SD) 122, Western State 137, Colorado Mines 187, Chico State 242, Alaska Anchorage 256, Cal Poly Pomona 304, Edinboro 309, Ferris State 312 (20. Western Washington 544).

Top 10 Individuals (10,000 Meters)- 1. Tabor Stevens, Adams State, 29:50.1; 2. Vegard Olstad, Western State, 30:01.7; 3. Alex Monroe, Lock Haven, 30:02.7; 4. Mike Biwott, American International, 30:07.2; 5. Aaron Dinzeo, California (Penn.) 30:14.3; 6. Paul Yak, Augustana, S.D., 30:20.2; 7. Adam Volkert, Pittsburg State, 30:23.2; 8. Isaac Chavez, Chico State, 30:30.1; 9. Johnnie Guy, Southern Indiana, 30:36.3; 10. Jovanny Godinez, Adams State, 30:38.3.

GNAC All-Americans (Top 40) – 25. Dylan Anthony, UAA, 31:02.6; 32. Victor Samoei, UAA, 31:10.6; 40. Isaac Kangogo, UAA, 31:17.9.

Other GNAC Finishers - 61. Chip Jackson, WWU, 31:37.8; 87. Kevin Rooke, UAA, 32:03.8; 116. Cory Johnson, WWU, 32:30.4; 125. Isaac Griffith, WWU, 32:35.9; 126. Dominik Notz, UAA, 32:36.0; 1335. Michael Mendenhall, UAA, 32:39.4; 153. Jonathan Quimby, WWU, 32:52.0; 162. Andrey Ionashku, UAA, 33:02.1; 177. Tabor Reedy, WWU, 33:13.0; 194. Nathan Richards, WWU, 33:29.4; 204. Dylan Peterson, WWU, 33:45.3.