Western's Kevin McDermott wins GNAC title in leading Viks to team crown, while WWU women repeat...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska--Both Western Washington cross country teams successfully defended their Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships Saturday afternoon at Kincaid Park.

Kevin McDermott (photo courtesy WWU Athletics) broke through to win his first GNAC individual title, running 24:44 to outlast Central Washington's Johan Correa over the 8k course by four seconds.

A group of nine led through the first 3 kilometers, but at 5K, the group was down to five, including defending individual champion Cole Nash of Alaska Anchorage, and Western Washington's Andrew Oslin.

With 1000 meters to go, it became a two man race between McDermott & Correa, the revelation of the 2023 season. McDermott, a junior from South Kitsap HS, pulled away to take the crown in 24:44, with Correa finishing second in 24:48.

Behind McDermott, Oslin hung on for fifth in 25:08, followed by Ryan Clough in ninth at 25:22. Jeret Gillingham was tenth in 25:22, and Jalen Javurek closed out Western's five scorers in 12th at 25:41 to give the Vikings a 57 second 1-5 split and a final score of 37 points, with host Alaska Anchorage second with 51 points, and Simon Fraser third with 80 points.

All seven Viking runners finished inside the top 20, with Samuel Lingwall 16th at 25:54, and Jason Blind 19th in 25:58.

Central Washington finished in sixth with 161 points, led by Correa's second place finish, and Steiner Christensen's 20th place finish in 26:02.

Saint Martin's was seventh with 187, as Isaac Cortes finished inside the top ten in eighth, running 25:17.

Seattle Pacific was eighth with 217 points, led by Brennan LeBlanc, who was 22nd in 26:07.

Like their male counterparts, the Viking women's squad placed all seven runners inside the top 20, led by Ashley Reeck's fourth place finish in 21:17 over the 6k course.

Ila Davis was seventh in 21:30, followed by Marian Ledesma in 11th in 21:47. Meaera Nystrom was 13th in 21:51, and Sophie Wright closed out Western's five in 14th place at 21:52.

Ella Edens in 15th at 21:55, and Emma Smith in 18th in 22:04 earned top 20 finishes.

The Vikings took the GNAC title with a final score of 49 points, with a 1-5 split of 35 seconds.

Saint Martin's took second with 71 points with four scorers inside the top ten.  The Saints were led by Cassidy Walchak-Sloan's sixth place finish in 21:20. She was followed by Alisha Saucedo in eighth place at 21:41, then Sara Sabra in ninth at 21:43, and Elke Wijkmans in tenth in 21:44.

The Saints' depth was exposed, as Kya Ramirez was the final scorer, finishing 44th in 23:42, while Naomi Hartley was the final finisher in 64th at 24:43.

One of the best individual performances on the day came from Seattle Pacific's Annika Esvelt, who finished third overall in 21:05, as Kendall Kramer and Rosie Fordham of Alaska Fairbanks went 1-2 in 20:47 and 20:56.

The Falcons finished seventh with a final team score of 153 points.

Central Washington finished ninth with 272 points, with Hannah Mikkelsen their top finisher in 47th at 23:45.

All four schools will compete at the NCAA West Regionals in two weeks hosted by Western Oregon University in Monmouth, Oregon.

Complete results of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships are are available here.

 

NOTE: The Great Northwest Athletic Conference and the sports information office at Western Washington University contributed to this report.

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