Vikings ranked number 16 in final regular season USTFCCCA D2 poll...
NEW ORLEANS--In the final USTFCCCA Division II poll before next Friday's NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships at Chambers Creek Regional Park in University Place, the Western Washington men's team moved up one spot.
Coach Pee Wee Halsell's Vikings (Paul Merca photo), fresh off a second place finish at the NCAA West Regional cross country championships in Billings, Montana behind West team champs Chico State, are ranked number 16 in the poll.
Simon Fraser is the only other school from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference ranked in the national top 30, coming in at number 28.
Entering the national championships, the nation's top five teams are in order: Colorado School of Mines, who won the NCAA Pre-Nationals at Chambers Creek last month; Grand Valley State, Wingate; Chico State, which finished second at Pre-Nationals; and Lee of Tennessee.
No women's teams from the GNAC qualified for this year's NCAA championships, though the conference will be represented in the race by Saint Martin's Alauna Carstens, and the Alaska Fairbanks trio of Naomi Bailey, Kendall Kramer, and Rosie Fordham. Bailey, who also won the Pre-Nationals last month, won the West Regionals last Saturday.
Adams State, Grand Valley State, Colorado School of Mines, UC-Colorado Springs, and Augustana of South Dakota are the nation's top five women's teams going into the national championship meet.
The NCAA Division II championships at Chambers Creek on Friday December 2nd starts with the men's 10k at 10 am, and the women's 6k at 11:15 am. NCAA.com will also provide a live stream of the meet.
WASHINGTON ALUM ALLIE SCHADLER JOINS PUMA ELITE GROUP...
In an Instagram post, the Puma Elite group announced that Washington alum Allie Schadler will join the North Carolina-based team.
Schadler joins Spokane native John Dressel as part of the squad headed up by Alistair and Amy Cragg.
Arizona native Schadler, who was a two time All-American in cross country and earned All-America honors twice during the indoor season, comes to the Puma group with personal bests of 4:14.67 at 1500, 8:58.13 at 3000, 15:31.29 at 5000, and 32:56.80 over 10000.
Puma Elite's Instagram post is below.
NOTE: The USTFCCCA and Puma Elite contributed to this report.
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