Vikings hold their own against nationally ranked teams at Lewis Crossover...

In Romeoville, Illinois on Saturday, the number 14 Western Washington men's cross country team placed four runners in the top 30 en route to a third place finish at the Lewis Crossover, one of the country's most competitive Division II regular season meets.

Sten Brakstad (WWU Athletics photo) led the way for the Vikings with his twelfth place finish in 24:21. Jonah Billings followed in 22nd in 24:30, with George Fernandez and Jared Alderfer finishing together in 27th and 28th in 24:35.

Will Henry closed out WWU's scorers in 75th in 25:11, as the Vikings ran a 1-5 split of 50 seconds.

Former Central Washington standout Ramon Rodriguez, who transferred to Tiffin after the NCAA cross country championships, won the race, running 23:45.

Number 6 Colorado Christian won the team title with 106 points followed by number 10 Saginaw Valley's 143 points, and Western Washington's 163 points.

Number 8 Chico State was fourth with 198 points. Number 18 Northwest Nazarene, which had a close loss to Chico State two weeks ago at the Mike Johnson Classic, finished eighth with 295 points, while Alaska Anchorage was ninth with 317 points.

In the opening women's 6k, Western finished sixth with 246 points, ahead of five nationally ranked teams, which should give the Vikings consideration for a national ranking when the next coaches' poll comes out on October 15th.

The Vikings were led by WSU transfer Sabrina Colbert (WWU Athletics photo), who was 27th in 22:08. Close behind her was Jill Philbin in 32nd in 22:14. 

There was a gap behind Philbin, with Alexis Parker their third runner in at 22:33, followed by Ella Edens in 66th in 22:39, and Danielle McLain rounding out the scorers in 69th place in 22:41. WWU's 1-5 split was 33 seconds.

In a close finish, Hannah Hartwell of Fort Lewis won the individual title in 20:46.

Number 15 Chico State won the team crown with 100 points, followed by number 9 Lewis with 140 points. Unranked Biola was third with 180 points, with number 28 Colorado Mesa fourth with 210 points, then number 14 Pittsburg State fifth with 220, just ahead of Western's 246 points.

Complete results of the Lewis Crossover are available here.

NOTE: The sports information offices of Lewis University and Western Washington University contributed to this report.

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