Nationally ranked teams battle in Bellingham in GNAC championship meet preview...
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| SPU's Kaylee Mitchell was sixth at the WWU Classic Saturday (Paul Merca photo) |
In the opening men’s 10k, the host Vikings, who entered the meet ranked number 19 in the latest USTFCCCA D2 poll, finished third with 94 points, trailing only No. 8 Simon Fraser (40 points) and Alaska Anchorage (51 points), and edging 17th-ranked UC-Colorado Springs.
Western was led by Eric Hamel’s ninth place finish in 32:18. He was followed by Ed Kiolbasa in 20th at 32:56. Behind him were a trio in close proximity—James Jasperson in 24th (33:03), Kyler Sager in 26th (33:07), and Liam Cossette in 27th (33:13), giving the Vikings a 1-5 split of 55 seconds.
Club Northwest’s A squad finished fifth with 105 points, led by Connor Peloquin in 12th (32:30), just ahead of Central Washington, who scored 190 points. The Wildcats were led by freshman Turian Morlan, who ran 33:26 in his first collegiate 10k race to finish 33rd.
Seattle Pacific was seventh with 203 points, led by freshman Colin Boutin, who was 39th in 33:38.
Saint Martin’s finished 12th with 354 points, with Levi Schilter leading the way in 85th in 34:58.
Despite Felix Kemboi (31:40) and Wesley Kirui (31:51) of Alaska Anchorage finishing 1-2, Simon Fraser put four runners in the top eight, with their fifth sneaking in at 19th to salt away the team title.
In the highly competitive women’s 6k, which featured four teams ranked in the top 15 in the USTFCCCA D2 poll, Seattle’s Club Northwest took the team title with 55 points, ahead of #10 Simon Fraser (71 points), #8 Alaska Anchorage (76 points) and #12 Seattle Pacific (96 points), with #14 Western Washington fifth with 101 points.
Club Northwest was led by Seattle Pacific alum Jane Larson’s 4th place finish in 21:54.
Seattle Pacific’s Kaylee Mitchell led the way for the Falcons in sixth in 22:01.
Junior Katherine Walter moved up to 19th with a time of 22:27; sophomore Dania Holmberg was 22nd in 22:25, and junior Kate Lilly was 25th in 22:38. Freshman Krystal Kaufman was among the top 5 scorers for the first time in her career, placing 43rd in 23:16, giving the Falcons a 1-5 split of 75 seconds.
The Vikings were led by a 16th-place overall finish by freshman Rebecca Lehman, who finished the 6,000-meter course in 22:23. Junior Sophia Galvez was 20th overall finishing in 22:28.
Tracy Melville in 26th (22:40), Shawnee Konrad in 28th (22:48), and Jane Barr in 31st (22:55) completed the WWU scorers, who had a 32-second 1-5 split.
Central Washington was seventh with 159 points, led by Nicole Soleim’s 20th place finish in 22:28, with team leader and NCAA 10000m qualifier Alexa Shindruk 23rd in 22:36.
Saint Martin’s was 12th with 369 points, led by Yeshi Vaughan in 89th place in 25:42.
Emmanuelah Chelimo of Alaska Anchorage won the individual title in 21:15.
Complete results of the WWU Classic are available here.
On Friday, Gonzaga swept the Sasquatch Invitational in Spokane, hosted by Spokane Community College.
The women's 5k was won by former Husky Micaela Kostecka of Spokane CC, who ran 18:41, while Gonzaga redshirt Jake Perrin won the men's 8k in 25:18.
Results of the Sasquatch Invitational are available here.
NOTE: The sports information office of Western Washington, Central Washington, Gonzaga University and Seattle Pacific contributed to this report.
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