Wednesday, October 22, 2014
PORTLAND, Ore. - It’s the calm before the storm.
With the 14th annual Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships set for next Saturday (Nov. 1) at the Ash Creek Preserve Cross Country course on the campus of Western Oregon University, this week is a relatively light one in the GNAC.
Three meets are on the schedule.
On Friday Western Oregon will compete at Corvallis in the Oregon State Beaver Classic.
On Saturday, Central Washington and Northwest University will join Western Washington for a meet at Hovander Homestead Park in Ferndale. The men will run 7,000 meters and the women's will run a 5K.
Also on Saturday, a few Simon Fraser athletes will compete in the BC Cross Country Championships in Vancouver.
Last week GNAC athletes competed at Portland, Seattle and Spearfish, S.D.
Alaska’s women placed fourth and its men finished sixth at the Lewis & Clark Invitational. Northwest Nazarene had a pair of seventh places finishes in the meet.
Individually the top GNAC finishers were NNU’s Isaac Mitchell (3rd, 25:28.1) and Susanna Fleming (7th, 23:27.8). Mitchell earned GNAC Male Athlete of the Week honors for his effort.
At Seattle, Seattle Pacific’s women placed second and its men were third in the Emerald City Invitational. The Falcons were led by Anni Patti (10th, 22:42) and Turner Wiley (22nd, 27:45).
At Spearfish, Montana State Billings’ women finished first and its men were second in the Black Hills State Invitational.
MSUB’s Nocona Frame won the women’s 5,000-meter race in a time of 20:01.52 to win GNAC Female Athlete of the Week honors. The Yellowjackets’ Robert Peterson finished second in the men’s 8K in a time of 26:18.44.
No Changes In Regional, National Polls
There were no changes for GNAC teams in this week’s USTFCCCA regional and national polls.
In the national poll, Alaska Anchorage’s men held on to seventh and its women remained 20th. Simon Fraser’s women remained at No. 8.
In the women’s regional poll, Simon Fraser remained at No. 2 followed by UAA (5th), Central Washington (6th) and Western Washington (7th).
In the men’s regional poll, Alaska Anchorage remained at No. 2 followed by Simon Fraser (6th) and Western Washington (7th).
ALUMNI NOTES: Former WWU All-American Sarah (Porter) Crouch placed seventh in the 37th annual Chicago Marathon Oct. 12. Crouch was clocked in a time of 2:32:44, bettering her personal best by 12 minutes. She was the third American to finish. It was her first marathon in three years.
LAST WEEK’S SUMMARIES
Black Hills State (Oct. 18 at Spearfish, SD): Men – Black Hills State 44, MSU Billings 45, Gillette 47, Central Wyoming 94. Individuals (8,000 Meters) – 1. Mitch Kraft, unat., 26:06.87; 2. Robert Peterson, MSUB, 26:18.44; 7. Garrett Love, MSUB, 27:46.09; 10. Josh Panasuk,, MSUB, 28:17.64. Women – MSU Billings 16, Black Hills State 49, Gillette 74. Individuals (5,000 Meters) – 1. Nocona Frame, MSUB, 20:01.52; 2. Rio Frame, MSUB, 20:04.92; 3. Renae Hepfner, MSUB, 20:13.25; 4. Jinise Osborne, MSUB, 20:44.86.
Emerald City Invitational (Oct. 18 at Seattle): Men – Club Northwest 40, Everett CC 64, Seattle Pacific 106, Green River 110, Seattle RC 112, Highline CC 139, Dark Horse 174, Olympic 191 (Division 1 – Seattle 15). Individuals (8,000 Meters) – 1. Fred Huxham, unat., 25:34; 22. Turner Wiley, SPU, 27:45; 26. Brian Comer, SPU, 27:47. Women – Club Northwest 20, Seattle Pacific 57, Oiselle 100, Everett CC 106, Olympic 131, Dark Horse 141. (Division 1 - Oregon State 25, Seattle 30). Individuals (6,000 Meters) – 1. Sophie Curatilo, Seattle, 21:42; 10. Anni Patti, SPU, 22:42; 22. Jessica Rawlins, SPU, 23:47.
Lewis & Clark Invitational (Oct. 18 at Portland): Men – Northwest Christian 82, Oregon Tech 113, Concordia 115, Puget Sound 129, Whitman 138 (6. Alaska 147, 7. Northwest Nazarene 154). Individuals (8,000 Meters) – 1. Matthew Clowes, Conc, 24:50.2; 3. Isaac Mitchell, NNU, 25:28.1; 6. Ross MacDougall, UAF, 25:46.8; 19. Chase Cunningham, NNU, 26:16.9. Women – Whitworth 48, Whitman 54, Puget Sound 84, Alaska 134, Linfield 147 (7. Northwest Nazarene 197). Individuals (6,000 Meters) – 1. Georgia Glovatsky, MHCC, 22:20.7; 7. Susanna Fleming, NNU, 23:27.8; 9. Kali Striker, UAF, 23:29.6; 10. Dorothy O’Donnell, UAF, 23:31.2.
GNAC ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Men - Isaac Mitchell, Northwest Nazarene (Fr., Sandy, OR) finished third at the Lewis & Clark Invitational in a time of 25:28.1, cutting four seconds off his previous season best time. He was the highest GNAC finisher from the two teams (NNU and Alaska) that competed in the meet).
Women - Nocona Frame, Montana State Billings (Sr., Glendive, MT – U. of Mary) finished first at the Black Hills State Early Bird Cross Country meet at Spearfish, S.D., in a 5,000-meter time of 20:01.53. MSUB had the first four placers in the meet in posting a nearly perfect team score of 16. The win was Frame’s second straight. She also won the MSUB Invitational Oct. 4.