Monday, November 8, 2021

INDIANAPOLIS – After an impressive showing to win the West Regional championship on Saturday, the Simon Fraser women lead the GNAC’s selections for the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships on Saturday, November 20 on The Abbey Course in Saint Leo, Florida.

Simon Fraser was the only GNAC team selected to this year’s national meet after a solid performance that landed the program its first West Region championship since 2014. Behind regional runner-up Olivia Willett, SFU saw two runners earn All-West Region honors and all five scoring runners place in the top 30. Simon Fraser won with a score of 75 points, 16 points ahead of Stanislaus State.

Willett placed second in a time of 21:19.7 over 6,000 meters while freshman Kate Cameron was 13th in 21:53 to earn All-West Region honors. Junior Emily Chilton placed 26th in 22:11.9, senior Alison Andrews-Paul was 27th in 22:18.4 and junior Megan Roxby placed 29th in 22:22.8.

Simon Fraser will be looking to equal or better its best-ever nationals finish of sixth place in 2016. This is Simon Fraser’s sixth trip to nationals as a team and SFU was a top-10 finisher each time.

Alaska’s freshman trio of Rosie Fordham, Kendall Kramer and Naomi Bailey and Western Oregon junior Luz Garcia will join Simon Fraser at the national meet.

Fordham and Kramer automatically qualified for the national meet thanks to top-five finishes at the regional meet. Fordham placed fourth in a time of 21:34.4 while Kramer placed fifth in 21:36.1. Bailey received an at-large berth into the national meet thanks to her sixth-place finish time of 21:41.7.

This marks just the second time in the GNAC era that the Nanooks will be represented at the national meet. The UAF women qualified as a team in 2011, placing 17th.

Garcia also earned an at-large berth thanks to her eighth-place finish in a time of 21:44.5. This will be Garcia’s second trip to the national meet. At Cal Poly Pomona in 2019, Garcia placed 226th in a time of 23:12.2.

The GNAC will have just one representative in the men’s race in Alaska Anchorage’s Coleman Nash. The freshman automatically qualified with a fifth-place finish at regionals in a time of 30:56.3 over 10,000 meters.