Monday, November 21, 2022

PORTLAND, Ore. – Simon Fraser’s men’s team along with Alaska Anchorage junior Michael Zapherson and Saint Martin’s freshman Alauna Carstens will join the conference’s automatic qualifiers for the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships, which take place on Friday, December 2 in University Place, Washington.

The Red Leafs men, Zapherson and Carstens were among the at-large participants selected for the meet and announced on Monday by the NCAA Division II Men’s & Women’s Cross Country Committees.

Simon Fraser, which placed fourth as a team at Saturday’s West Regional Championships, joins Western Washington among the 34 teams to compete at the Division II Championships. The Vikings were an automatic qualifier based on their second-place finish. Simon Fraser was the only at-large team to advance out of the West Region and marks the first time since 2018 that SFU has qualified for the meet. Likewise, Western Washington is competing in the championships for the first time since 2019.

The Red Leafs are led by sophomore Charlie Dannatt, who was an automatic qualifier for the meet after winning the West Regional in a time of 30:07.49 over 10,000 meters.

Zapherson earned his at-large selection based on his seventh-place finish at regionals, running a time of 30:31.12. He joins sophomore teammate Coleman Nash, who earned an automatic berth after placing second in a time of 30:10.34. The duo was among six West Region individuals invited to compete in the Division II Championships.

While Zapherson will run at the Division II Championships for the first time, Nash will look to build upon his All-American finish as a freshman. At last year’s meet, Nash finished 27th in a time of 31:10.1.

Carstens was one of five women’s at-large individuals invited to the championships, four of which are from the GNAC. Carstens finished seventh at the West Regional in a time of 21:25.46 over 6,000 meters. She is joined by the West Region champion, Alaska sophomore Naomi Bailey, along with Nanooks teammates Kendall Kramer and Rosie Fordham.

Carstens becomes the first Saint Martin’s athlete to qualify for the Division II Championships since Shannon Porter earned All-American honors with a 24th-place finish in 21:13.5. The Alaska trio all qualified in 2021 with Fordham leading the way in 61st place in 21:44.9.

The Division II Cross Country Championships will take place at the Chambers Creek Regional Park in University Place, Washington, as part of the Division II Championships Festival. The men’s race will begin at 10 a.m. (Pacific) followed by women’s race at 11:15 a.m.