Wednesday, November 24, 2021

PORTLAND, Ore. – For the first time in program history, Simon Fraser swept the conference’s men’s and women’s cross country titles. Thanks to the team’s gold-medal performances, SFU head coach Brit Townsend has been named both the GNAC Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year.

Despite going since March 2020 without competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the closure of the U.S./Canada border, Townsend made sure her teams were ready for go when Simon Fraser opened the season in September.

The SFU women did not lose a regular-season meet and dominated the team competition at the GNAC Championships, placing all five scoring runners in the top 10 to win with a score of 32 points, 45 points ahead of second-place Western Washington. It was SFU’s first title since 2014.

Two weeks later, Simon Fraser cruised to the program’s second NCAA West Region title with a score of 75 points, beating second-place Stanislaus State by 15 points. Once again the team grouped extremely well, placing all five scoring runners in the top 30. Simon Fraser went on to a 12th-place finish at the NCAA Championships.

Townsend’s men’s squad also had a banner season, winning the program’s first GNAC championship with a score of 50 points, edging out Western Washington by five points. Simon Fraser placed three runners in the top 10 and all five scoring runners in the top 20. The team went on to place eighth at the NCAA West Regional with a score of 203 points.

During the regular season, Simon Fraser finished no worse than third in the team standings and collected second-place finishes at both the San Francisco State Invitational and the Mike Johnson Classic.

In addition to the conference honors, Townsend was named the Division II West Region Women’s Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track and Field & Cross Country Coaches Association.

This is the third time that Townsend has been named the GNAC Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year (2014 & 2016) and the first time that she has been honored as the Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year.