Both Viking squads, Rodriguez, Correa & Esvelt on their way to Sacramento for D2 nationals...
BILLINGS, Montana--As expected, both nationally ranked Western Washington cross country teams earned berths to the NCAA Division II cross country championships in Sacramento in two weeks by placing second at the NCAA West Regional meet at Amend Park, hosted by Montana State University-Billings.
MEN'S RECAP...
In the opening men's 10k race, the number 9 ranked Vikings packed their top five in the top 25 early, and made sure they were up front within striking distance of favorite and number 6 ranked Chico State.
Sophomore Mario Giannini of Chico State, who did not run at the Bill Roe Classic in Ferndale when the two teams met in late September, won the individual title in a time of 30:26, five seconds ahead of Western's Ryan Clough (photo courtesy GNAC/WWU Athletics).
The Vikings put two other runners in the top ten, as GNAC champion Jeret Gillingham was seventh in 30:43, and 2023 GNAC champ Kevin McDermott was tenth in 30:55.
George Karamitsos and Jared Alderfer closed out the Viking scorers in 17th and 18th in identical times of 31:08, as Western Washington scored 54 points to Chico State's 40, as Chico also put three runners inside the top ten (1-4-9).
Western finished with a 1-5 split of 37 seconds.
Biola was the final automatic team qualifier, finishing third with 137 points.
Central Washington's Ramon Rodriguez and Johan Correa earned individual spots to the national championships in Sacramento with their fifth and sixth place finishes, in identical times of 30:36.
The Wildcats were eighth with 227 points. Behind Rodriguez and Correa were Will McGonigal in 59th in 32:17, Charlie Naught in 75th in 32:38, and Max Hutton in 82nd in 32:42, giving the Wildcats a 1-5 split of 2:06.
Saint Martin's finished 20th with 631 points, led by Eli Dale in 104th in 33:19. Seattle Pacific ran an incomplete team. Isaac Venable led the way in 92nd place in 32:57.
WOMEN'S RECAP...
In the women's 6k race, the beginning of the race looked like a repeat of several head to head races between the Alaska Fairbanks duo of Rosie Fordham and Kendall Kramer, and Seattle Pacific's Annika Esvelt (photo courtesy GNAC/WWU Athletics), as the trio broke away from the field early.
In the end, Fordham took the victory in 19:53, with teammate Kramer second in 20:07. Esvelt faded to sixth, crossing the line in 20:48.
The team race came down to Chico State and Western Washington, with the Wildcats winning by a closer than expected 40-54 margin. Biola earned the final automatic qualifying spot into the nationals in third with 137 points.
Chico won the team title by placing three in the top ten, while the Vikings' top finisher was Ashley Reeck in 12th in 21:25.
Behind Reeck were Ila Davis in 16th in 21:33, Emma Smith in 27th in 21:52, Ella Edens in 29th in 21:55, and Danielle McLain in 31st in 22:00, giving the Vikings a 1-5 split of 35 seconds.
Seattle Pacific, which entered the meet with at best, an outside shot of qualifying as a team after finishing fourth at the GNACs two weeks ago, finished tenth with 239 points.
Maya Ewing, who had a breakthrough race with her fourth place finish two weeks ago, finished 22nd in 21:41.
Matise Mulch was 49th in 22:18, Madelyn Buckley was 82nd in 22:56, and Anna Prussian was 83rd in 22:58. The Falcons' 1-5 split was 2:10.
Central Washington was 15th with 361 points, led by Payton Conover in 36th in 22:09.
Saint Martin's did not run a team. Kya Ramirez was 110th in 23:27.
The NCAA will announce the teams and individuals receiving at-large berths to the NCAA championships on Monday.
NOTE: The NCAA, and the sports information offices of MSU-Billings, Western Washington, Central Washington, and Seattle Pacific contributed to this report.
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