Defending champs Western Washington finish second at GNACs...

LACEY--Despite having the best 1-5 splits of any team competing in either races, it was not enough for Western Washington to overcome the juggernaut known as Simon Fraser in its attempt to retain the cross country championships at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference meet on the campus of Saint Martin's University Saturday morning.

After Western Washington swept the men's and women's titles in 2019, the 2020 GNAC cross country campaign was cancelled due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.

In the opening men's 8k race, Western Washington's Mac Franks (Ron Smith/GNAC photo) led the way with his sixth place finish in 24:46. He was followed by Jeret Gillingham in eighth in 24:49, and Alec Ritter in 12th in 24:57.

Jalen Javurek in 14th at 24:59, and Kevin McDermott in 25:00 for 15th rounded out the Viking scorers, giving them a 1-5 split of 14 seconds.

It was not enough, as Simon Fraser's Aaron Ahl (24:22) and Charlie Dannart (24:33) went 1-3, with Scott Arndt finishing ninth (24:50), and their two other finishers both inside the top 20, as Simon Fraser won the team title over Western Washington by a 50-55 margin.

John Farrell of Saint Martin's was perhaps the surprise of the meet as he finished seventh in 24:46.

Kainalu Pagente was 38th in 26:08, and Michael Harwell was 46th in 26:31 as the top three runners for the Saints, who finished eighth in the team race with 190.

Central Washington finished sixth with 165, led by Shawn Clough in 27th at 25:34, 2019 top-10 finisher Trevor Allen in 32nd in 25:52, and Zack Sundt in 34th at 25:58.

Seattle Pacific finished tenth with 228, with Colin Boutin leading the way in 30th at 25:44, Jon Owen in 45th at 26:29, and Brennan LeBlanc in 49th at 26:40.

The women's 6k was more of the same, with the Vikings running the best team race, but not having the frontrunners to challenge Simon Fraser, who went into the meet ranked ninth in the latest USTFCCCA national poll.

Brook Wedin led the way for Western Washington with her 11th place finish in 22:27, followed by Brittany Aquino in 13th in 22:31, and Ila Davis one place and one second behind.

The final two Viking scorers were Shawnee Konrad in 19th at 22:45, and Mia Crocker in 22nd at 22:48, giving Western a 1-5 split of 21 seconds.

Led by heavy individual favorite Olivia Willett, who won in 21:28, the Clan placed all five scorers in the top 10 to win the GNAC title by a comfortable 32-77 score over Western Washington.

Despite a ninth place finish by Annika Esvelt, the Seattle Pacific Falcons, who were pre-season favorites to challenge Simon Fraser, finished fifth with 161 points.

Nicki Yorges was 35th at 23:51, and Kelsey Washenberger was 36th at 23:53 for SPU.

Saint Martin's finished eighth with 191, led by Cassidy Walchak-Sloan in 26th at 22:50, Sara Sabra in 27th at 22:57, and Naomi Hartley in 43rd in 24:22.

Central Washington was ninth at 204, with Madison Child their top finisher in34th at 23:48, Kay Lester in 39th at 24:05, and Caitlin Gohr in 49th at 24:36.

All four schools will compete at the NCAA West Regionals in two weeks on the campus course of Western Oregon in Monmouth.

The GNAC meet results are available here.

NOTE: The GNAC & the sports information offices of Saint Martin's, Western Washington, Central Washington and Seattle Pacific contributed to this report.

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