Saturday, November 5, 2022

MONMOUTH, Ore. – Coleman Nash spent the entire GNAC Cross Country Championships in his most comfortable spot: up front.

The sophomore took the lead from the starting gun and never took the foot off the pedal, racing to a 17-second victory in the men’s race held Saturday at Western Oregon University’s Ash Creek Preserve.

Nash led by much as 21 seconds at the four-mile mark and crossed the finish line all alone, winning in a time of 23:46.2 over 8,000 meters. It was Nash’s third race victory of the season and was an appropriate improvement after placing second in last year’s meet.

While Nash picked up the individual hardware for Alaska Anchorage, Western Washington put together an impressive performance to win the program’s sixth GNAC championship and the first since 2019. The Vikings placed all five scoring runners in the top 10 to finish with a score of 31 points.

Simon Fraser, the 2021 champion, placed second with 52 points while Alaska Anchorage finished third with 83 points.

Western Washington was led by sophomore Jeret Gillingham, who placed third in a time of 24:06.5. Junior Andrew Oslin was fourth with a time of 24:07.1. Junior George Karamitsos placed seventh in 24:12.5, sophomore Kevin McDermott was eighth in 24:20.5 and sophomore Ryan Clough was ninth in 24:22.7. All five earned All-GNAC honors based on their top-10 finishes.

The Vikings’ Jared Alderfer was named the Freshman of the Year after he placed 17th in a time of 24:51.6.

Alaska Anchorage junior Michael Zapherson was named the Newcomer of the Year as he finished sixth in a time of 24:12.0.

Simon Fraser sophomore Charlie Dannatt placed second in 23:03.4 while junior Sebastian Brinkman placed fifth in 24:07.9. Western Oregon junior Hunter Hutton rounded out the All-GNAC honorees, placing 10th on his home course in a time of 24:23.

Nash left little doubt in victory, building an eight-second lead over the first 3,000 meters in the race. He built the gap to 18 seconds at 4,500 meters and was a dominant 21 seconds ahead of the chase pack at 6,500 meters.

Western Washington secured its team victory with the same impressive grouping that has made the team competitive all season. There was just a 16-second gap between the five scoring runners. Only the Vikings and Simon Fraser finished with a gap of less than a minute between the scoring five.

The conference’s teams now look ahead to the NCAA West Region Championships, hosted by Montana State Billings, which take place on Sat., Nov. 19 at Amend Park in Billings, Montana.

GNAC CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS MEN’S RESULTS
Team Scores: Western Washington 31, Simon Fraser 52, Alaska Anchorage 83, Western Oregon 115, Saint Martin’s 133, Montana State Billings 163, Central Washington 182, Seattle Pacific 228. Northwest Nazarene 239, Alaska 285.

Top 10 Finishers (All-GNAC): 1, Coleman Nash, UAA, 23:46.2. 2, Charlie Dannatt, SFU, 24:03.4. 3, Jeret Gillingham, WWU, 24:06.5. 4, Andrew Oslin, WWU, 24:07.1. 5, Sebastian Brinkman, SFU, 24:07.9. 6, Michael Zapherson, UAA, 24:12.0. 7, George Karamitsos, WWU, 24:12.5. 8, Kevin McDermott, WWU, 24:20.6. 9, Ryan Clough, WWU, 24:22.7. 10, Hunter Hutton, WOU, 24:23.0.

Athlete of the Year: Coleman Nash, Alaska Anchorage
Freshman of the Year: Jared Alderfer, Western Washington
Newcomer of the Year: Michael Zapherson, Alaska Anchorage