Porter & Welling win Western Washington Invitational harrier titles...

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Western Washington University's Sarah Porter (left/photo courtesy Western Washington University) successfully defended her women's title and Jordan Welling took the men's crown at the 36th Annual Viking Invitational on Saturday at Lake Padden Park.

Welling, who placed second last year and was Western's top finisher for the second straight meet this season, led a 1-2-3 finish for the Viking men who placed first in both the overall and collegiate standings with 23 points. A distant second in the eight-team field was Club Northwest with 63 points. British Columbia was third with 84 points.

Welling toured the 10-kilometer course in 31:41. Bennett Grimes was second in 31:50 and Anthony Tomsich, who was the individual winner in 2007, finished third in 31:49.

The top seven Western men finished within a span of 1:25.

"We had great efforts from both teams," said Western coach Pee Wee Halsell, whose women are ranked No.7 and men No.8 in their respective United States Cross Country Coaches Association/NCAA Division II Top 25 Polls.

"Those time spreads for the top seven runners on both sides show the strength and depth of both teams."

Porter was the women's champion for the second straight year, finishing the 6-kilometer distance in 21:09, four seconds off the course record and 48 seconds ahead of the runner-up.
The Western women finished second with 39 points, just seven behind overall winner Club Northwest (32). British Columbia was third (88) in the six-team field.

Running without front runners Jessica Pixler and Jane Larson, who raced the day before in San Francisco, the SPU Falcons finished fourth with 90 points, led by Natty Plunkett's eighth place finish in 22:29.

In the men's race, Nate Sleight was SPU's top finisher in 27th, as the Falcons finished seventh.

This was the last major race for Western and SPU as they prep for the upcoming GNAC Championships, which are set for Saturday, Oct. 24, at Apple Ridge Run just outside of Yakima.

NOTE--The sports information offices of Western Washington and Seattle Pacific contributed to this report.