Friday, December 2, 2022

UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. – With a dusting of snow on the ground, the conditions were right for Alaska Anchorage sophomore Coleman Nash and Alaska sophomore Kendall Kramer to run their best races to lead the GNAC at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships, held Friday at Chambers Creek Regional Park.

Nash earned his second career cross country All-American trophy with an impressive sub-30-minute time for the 10,000-meter championship distance, placing sixth in a time of 29:57.1. Nash was part of the pack chasing eventual champion Dillon Powell of Colorado Mines the entire way, moving into the top 10 for good over the final 2,000 meters.

Kramer gave the Nanooks their first-ever top-10 finish in cross country, moving up over the final 1,000 meters to finish eighth with a time of 20:52.2 over 6,000 meters.

Simon Fraser sophomore Charlie Dannatt was the conference’s other All-American with an impressive finish of his own, moving into the top 20 of the men’s race in the final kilometer to place 15th in a time of 30:12.2. It is the highest individual finish for a SFU men's runner in the Division II Championships.

The conference’s two team qualifiers were in the men’s race. Western Washington led the way in 14th place with a score of 400 points. Junior Andrew Oslin was the Vikings’ top finisher, placing 65th in a time of 30:54.7. Simon Fraser finished 19th with a score of 453 points.

The championships capped an impressive season for Nash, who won the GNAC Championships and placed second at the NCAA West Regional. The sixth-place finish was his worst finish in seven races this season against the nation’s top competition.

As usual, Nash was with the leaders from the start and never lost contact with the chase pack. Nash was in 17th place at 4,000 meters but steadily moved up and moved into the top 10 for good by 7,000 meters. He was eighth with 2,000 meters to go and successfully surged over the final kilometer to move up two places at the finish.

Kramer, meanwhile, started well back of the field and sat 65th over the first 600 meters but made up a lot of ground over the next half mile to emerge at the one-mile mark in 21st place. She lost no ground from that point on, moving into the top 15 by 2,500 meters and was in 11th at the five-kilometer mark. Like Nash, Kramer surged into the top 10 over the final 1,000 meters and drafted off a significant chase group to earn her eighth-place finish.

Dannatt also started his race far behind but steadily moved up to earn his first cross country All-American trophy. He sat in 59th place after the first 1,000 meters and moved into All-American contention, presented to the top 40 places, at the midway point of the race. Dannatt was in 31st at 7,200 meters and did not break into the top 20 until the final 1,000 meters, passing seven runners in that stretch.

Alaska sophomore Rosie Fordham just missed All-American honors, placing 43rd in the women’s race in a time of 21:27.1. Nanooks sophomore Naomi Bailey suffered a side stitch early in the races and faded to a 90th-place finish in a time of 21:57.2. Saint Martin’s freshman Alauna Carstens rounded out the women’s individuals, finishing 74th in a time of 21:47.2.

Alaska Anchorage junior Michael Zapherson added a 55th-place men’s individual finish in a time of 30:47.3.

For Western Washington, the 14th-place men’s team finish is the program’s best since 2014 (13th). The Vikings posted a gap of just one minute between the scoring five runners.

Dillon Powell of Colorado Mines was the runaway winner in the men's race, finishing 19 seconds ahead of the field with a winning time of 29:28. He led the Orediggers to the team title with 43 poinrs, an impressive 134 points ahead of second-place Wingate.

Stephanie Cotter of Adams State won the women's race in a time of 19:45.2, finishinh 32 seconds ahead of second-place Lindsay Cunningham of Winona State. The Bears collected the team title with a score of 75 points, 41 points ahead of second-place Grand Valley State.