Vikings sweep GNAC cross country team titles, while Saint Martin's women take second...
MONMOUTH, Oregon--Western Washington's cross country squads took care of business and swept the men's and women's team titles at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference cross country championships Saturday morning, but it was the Saint Martin's women's squad that pulled off the surprise of the meet.
To the surprise of absolutely no one, the number 19 ranked Western Washington men won their sixth GNAC team title by placing all five scorers inside the top ten, led by Jeret Gillingham's (Paul Merca photo) third place finish, navigating through the 8k course in 24:07, 20 seconds behind winner Cole Nash of Alaska Anchorage.
A second behind Gillingham was Andrew Oslin in fourth, followed by George Karamitsos in seventh at 24:13.
Kevin McDermott, who was the number one runner for the Vikings at the Bill Roe, Lewis Crossover and NCAA Pre-Nationals, was eighth in 24:21, followed in ninth by Ryan Clough at 24:23, giving the Vikings a 1-5 spread of 19 seconds.
The Vikings won with a low score of 31 points to outdistance runner-up Simon Fraser, who scored 52 points.
Saint Martin's finished fifth with 133 points, led by Isaac Cortes, who finished 12th in 24:35. Central Washington was seventh with 182 points, led by Ty Savely in 22nd in 25:05, and Seattle Pacific was eighth with 228 points, led by Jon Owen, who was 41st in 26:00.
A side note on the Saint Martin's squad--the Saints' fifth place finish is the highest team finish in the conference championship meet since they finished fifth in 2010 and 2011. Their all time highest finish was fourth in 2008.
In the women's 6k race, the Vikings took the race out early and held the lead throughout the race to take the team title by a 64-78 margin over runner-up Saint Martin's.
Seattle Pacific was sixth with 149 points, and Central Washington was tenth with 261 points.
The Vikings won their second team title led by Mia Crocker's seventh place finish in 21:30, followed by Sophie Wright in eighth at 21:40.
Megera Shannon was eleventh in 21:49, followed by Evelyn Collins-Winn in 17th at 22:14, and Ashley Reeck in 21st at 22:28.
Alisha Saucedo was 24th in 22:31, and Naomi Hartley rounded out the Saints' scorers in 35th at 22:50.
Seattle Pacific's top finisher was Annika Esvelt in 18th at 22:15, while Central Washington was led by Rosie Melville in 49th at 23:55.
Kendall Kramer of Alaska Fairbanks won the individual title over teammate and Pre-Nationals winner Naomi Bailey 20:37-20:38 (20:37.0 to 20:37.1).
Saint Martin's second place finish at the GNACs is the highest in school history, with its highest previous placing a fifth place in the 2016 championships.
NOTE: The Great Northwest Athletic Conference contributed to this report.
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