Vikings finish 14th at NCAA Division II cross country championships at Chambers Creek...

UNIVERSITY PLACE--The 16th ranked Western Washington men's cross country team finished the 2022 season with a 14th place finish at the NCAA Division II Championships on a cold morning at Chambers Creek Regional Park.

Buoyed by a large contingent of fans, non-competing teammates, and alumni who made the two-hour drive from Bellingham, the Vikings improved upon their number 16 national ranking entering the championships.

Western finished with 400 team points, placing second among West Regional teams behind Chico State (5th, 265) and ahead of Simon Fraser (19th, 453) and Azusa Pacific (21st, 496).

Junior Andrew Oslin (Paul Merca photo) led the Vikings placing 65th finishing the 10K in 30:55, followed by sophomores George Karamitsos (83rd, 31:04), Ryan Clough (88th, 31:07) and Jeret Gillingham (95th, 31:14).  

Sophomore Jalen Javurek rounded out the Viking scorers in 151st in 31:55.

Colorado School of Mines ran away with the team title finishing with a remarkable team score of 43 with all seven of its runners earning All-America honors by placing in the top 40. Wingate earned runner-up honors with 177 points and Colorado Christian was third with 191 points.

Dillon Powell of Mines won the individual title covering the course in 29:28.0 for a 19-second victory over Tanner Chada of Grand Valley State. Cole Nash of the University of Alaska Anchorage led all GNAC runners placing 6th to earn All-America honors finishing in 29:58 and Charlie Dannatt of Simon Fraser University also earned All-America honors placing 19th in 30:13.

In the women's 6K championship, freshman Alauna Carstens (Paul Merca photo) of Saint Martin's, the only runner from a Washington D2 school in the field, finished 74th in a time of 21:48.

There were three other GNAC runners in the field, led by Alaska/Fairbanks' Kendall Kramer, who finished eighth in 20:53.

Nanook teammates Rosie Fordham was 43rd in 21:28, and Naomi Bailey, who won the Pre-Nationals last month on this course, suffered a side stitch and faded to 90th in 21:58.

Stephanie Cotter of defending national champion Adams State won the race in 19:46, leading them to another national title, scoring 75 points to second place Grand Valley State's 126, and Colorado School of Mines' 164.

The link to complete results is available here.

NOTE: The Great Northwest Athletic Conference, Western Washington University, Seattle Pacific University, and the NCAA contributed to this report.