Viking men's squad fourth at NCAA Pre-Nationals...
The Vikings, who entered the weekend ranked 20th in the national D2 poll, scored 143 points in the 8K race to finish behind number 1 ranked Colorado School of Mines, who scored 19 points, followed by number 5 Chico State at 83 points, and number 10 Western Colorado at 91 points.
Kevin McDermott (Paul Merca photo) led the way for Western Washington with his 17th place finish in 24:19. He was followed by Andrew Oslin in 22nd at 24:32.
Ryan Clough was next in 29th at 24:43, followed by Jeret Gillingham in 40th at 24:58, and Jared Alderfer rounded out the scorers in 45th at 25:01.
Colorado School of Mines ran away with the team title (literally). The Orediggers went 1-2-3-5-8 for 19 points.
Dillon Powell was the ultimate low stick for the Orediggers, as he captured the individual title in 23:20 for a 16 second victory over teammate Loic Scomparin (23:36). Duncan Fuehne came in third (23:40) to give Colorado School of Mines a sweep of the top-3 individual spots.
Among Washington schools in the field, Saint Martin's finished 19th with 541 points, led by Isaac Cortes in 106th in 25:53. Central Washington was 21st with 622 points, led by Shawn Clough in 108th at 25:55, and host Seattle Pacific was 23rd in the 27-team field with 673 points. Brennan LeBlanc was their top runner in 131st in 26:21.
In the women's 6k, the 29th ranked Vikings finished eighth with 242 points, 4 points less than GNAC rival Simon Fraser's 246.
Mia Crocker led the way for Western in 38th place in 22:09. Following Crocker was Marian Ledesma in 44th in 22:20, followed by Sophie Wright in 57th at 22:33. Meaera Shannon was 63rd in 22:40, and Evelyn Collins-Winn closed the scoring in 69th at 22:44.
Saint Martin's was 13th with 340 points, led by the 11th place finish of Alauna Carstens in 21:23. Carstens, who won the Payne/Curtis Invitational three weeks ago at this venue, was the top finisher among Washington schools in the field.
Host Seattle Pacific was 19th with 491 points, led by their All-American Annika Esvelt in 89th at 23:04. Central Washington was 24th in the 29-team field with 710 points, led by Zoie Mastin in 143rd at 24:07.
Colorado School of Mines, the nation's number 3 ranked women's team, rolled to the team title with 37 points to beat runner-up No. 11 Western Colorado by 51 points. The Orediggers went 3-4-7-8-15 with the duo of Zoe Baker (third, 20:56) and Clare Peters (fourth, 21:00) leading the way.
In the individual race, Naomi Bailey of Alaska Fairbanks took home top honors in 20:47.
All four Washington teams turn their attention to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship in two weeks in Monmouth, Oregon, hosted by Western Oregon University.
NOTE: The Great Northwest Athletic Conference, the USTFCCCA and the sports information office of Seattle Pacific contributed to this report.
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