By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The first Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship event of the 2024-25 academic year has arrived, as the conference’s 10 teams converge on Sudden Valley Golf Course for the 2024 GNAC Cross Country Championships on Saturday.
 
The men’s 8k race kicks off at 10 a.m. (Pacific), with the women’s 6k race following at 11 a.m. (Pacific). Live results will be available online at www.gnac.live, and admission to the event is free. Times for Saturday’s championship race have the potential to run slow, with a 75% chance of rain and temperatures ranging from 47-55 degrees (F). Each school is allowed 10 entries with the top-seven finishers for each team contributing to their respective scores.
 
Two-time reigning overall champion Western Washington will look to become the second GNAC school to win three straight men’s team titles and the third GNAC school to claim three straight women’s team titles. The Vikings swept both the 2022 and 2023 team cross country titles, and last year became the first school in GNAC history to win six trophies (men’s and women’s cross country, indoor track and outdoor track) in the same academic year.
 
The WWU men, ranked eighth nationally in the latest USTFCCCA coaches poll, are the clearcut favorites to repeat the trifecta. The Vikings are the only GNAC team to appear in the top-30 national rankings on the men’s side. It would be the first triple by a GNAC team since Alaska Anchorage’s men won seven straight team crowns from 2010-16. WWU is the only GNAC team besides UAA to win consecutive GNAC titles, first achieving that feat in 2006-07 before earning each of the last two trophies.
 
The women’s race projects to be much less cut and dry, with Alaska Fairbanks emerging as a top contender along with the WWU women. The Nanooks soared to No. 14 in the latest USTFCCCA rankings, surpassing the No. 15 Vikings ahead of Saturday’s championship race. The last GNAC women’s team to win three straight crowns was Alaska Anchorage, which claimed four straight from 2015-19 after winning five straight from 2009-13. Seattle Pacific was the first women’s cross country GNAC dynasty, winning four consecutive team titles from 2005-08. The Alaska Nanooks will battle for their first-ever GNAC women’s cross country trophy.
 
WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
Multiple storylines of GNAC history are on the table both from a team and individual perspective ahead of the women’s championship. If the Bill Roe Classic on Sept. 28 in Bellingham and the Lewis Crossover on Oct. 12 in Romeoville, Ill., were any indicator, then Saturday’s women’s race should be must-watch action.
 
Reigning GNAC and NCAA West Region champion Kendall Kramer of Alaska placed second among a field of 334 competitors at the Lewis Crossover with a time of 20:54.4, and teammate Rosie Fordham placed fourth in 21:05.2. That top-end effort was enough to nudge the Nanooks to a fifth-place finish among the field of 36 teams with 200 points, with Western Washington finishing sixth at 237 points. Running stronger than ever, Kramer appears the odds-on favorite to defend her GNAC crowns in 2022 and 2023, as she has finished first or second in all four of her races this fall. Her top time of the season was 20:31.9 at the Bill Roe Classic on Sept. 28, where she was the top Division II performer among a field of 119 runners. Kramer has an opportunity to become just the second woman in GNAC history to claim three GNAC cross country titles, with Seattle Pacific’s Jessica Pixler winning four straight from 2006-09. Fordham, the runner-up at last year’s GNAC Championships, has had a similarly impressive 2024 campaign finishing in the top-five in all four of her races. She placed fourth at the Bill Roe Classic in 20:45.9, and was the second-fastest Division II competitor in the meet. Kramer became the second Alaska Nanook to win the GNAC women’s cross country individual title in 2022, after Pavla Havlova claimed the crown at the 2005 GNAC Championships.
 
While Kramer and Fordham give the Nanooks an elite top-end, the team will need to rely on some of its rising stars in order to challenge the Vikings for the team title. Freshmen Katharine Brigham and Lucca Duke and sophomore Tabitha Williams all finished in the top-80 among the robust field of 334 runners at the Lewis Crossover, and all figure to be point contributors for Alaska on Saturday. The top times of the season for both Duke and Brigham came at the Bill Roe Classic, where they placed 27th in 22:04.3 and 34th in 22:17.1, respectively.
 
A smaller field of 10 teams on Saturday should work to benefit the Vikings, who have displayed the most depth of any GNAC women’s team this season. WWU had an impressive victory at the Bill Roe Classic, collecting 53 points to edge second-place Chico State – currently ranked 12th nationally – by three points. Nine Vikings crossed the finish line between 10th and 23rd place at their last home meet, providing a very realistic example of what WWU is capable of in Saturday’s championship race. Junior Ashley Reeck, an All-American in 2023, leads the charge for the Vikings this fall. She was her team’s top finisher in 10th place at the Bill Roe Classic in 21:25.4, and in 32nd place at the Lewis Crossover in 21:58.9. Reeck earned all-GNAC recognition with a fourth-place finish at last year’s GNAC Championships, and was a member of WWU’s championship-winning team as a freshman in 2022. Ila Davis is WWU’s other returning all-conference performer, finishing seventh at last year’s GNAC Championships. Ella Edens is back on the roster after placing 15th at the 2023 event and earning GNAC Freshman of the Year, while Meaera Nystrom (13th in 2023), Sophie Wright (14th in 2023), Emma Smith (18th in 2023) and Mia Crocker (19th in 2023) give WWU seven returners who all finished in the top-20 on last season’s championship unit. WWU went on to claim its first-ever NCAA West Region Championships team title, and finished the year by placing 14th among a field of 34 teams at the NCAA Division II Championships.
 
Simon Fraser figures to be among the upper half in the team race and will ride the leadership of junior Rachael Watkins who has had a breakout season. After leading the team in 17th place at last year’s championships (21:58.6), Watkins has put together her top cross country season yet. She was the fourth-finishing GNAC runner at the Bill Roe Classic, placing eighth with a time of 21:15.5, and is coming off a 24th-place finish at the Lewis Crossover with a time of 21:52.1. Set to compete in her third conference meet, Watkins projects to be among the title contenders and will seek to become just the second woman in SFU history to win the individual crown after Olivia Willett’s championship run in 2021. Kate Cameron (20th, 22:07.8), Charlotte Prangley (23rd, 22:23.9), Alicia Ranahan (25th, 22:28.8), Ella Marion (32nd, 22:59.5), Milena Kalisch (38th, 23:20.4), Selin Tasdemir (40th, 23:30.5) and Madison Stoochnoff (41st, 23:34.4) are all back from last year’s GNAC Championships roster, which placed fourth.
 
Reigning GNAC Newcomer of the Year Nell Baker and the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves will look to build off last year’s fifth-place finish at the GNAC Championships. Baker earned all-conference recognition after finishing fifth on her home course with a time of 21:18.5. Baker has put together a solid fall campaign thus far, taking 13th at the Bill Roe Classic (21:37.1) and 36th at the Lewis Crossover (22:01.6). One of the favorites for GNAC Freshman of the Year also resides on the UAA roster, with Alexandra Otto establishing herself among the league’s top runners this fall. Otto was UAA’s top finisher at the Bill Roe Classic in ninth place (21:21.6), and at the Lewis Crossover in 34th place (22:00.2). Evidence of her abilities was put on display last spring at the GNAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, where she cruised to a silver medal in the 5,000 meters in her collegiate debut track season. Tressa Wood (31st, 22:53.5) and Avery Williamson (39th, 23:29.1) are the other Seawolves back on the roster after competing at last year’s championships.
 
Annika Esvelt is back for her final GNAC Cross Country Championships and will be a contender for the individual crown. A two-time all-conference performer, Esvelt is coming off her best-ever finish in third place at last year’s GNAC Championships in Anchorage, Alaska. The SPU senior finished seventh at the Bill Roe Classic on Sept. 28, posting a career-best 6k time of 20:56.9. Most recently, Esvelt clocked a time of 21:32.4 at the Lewis Crossover to finish in 13th place. She was the third-finishing GNAC runner behind the Nanooks’ pair of senior harriers. Esvelt will seek to become the fourth woman in Seattle Pacific history to claim the GNAC crown and the first since Pixler won her fourth and final title in 2009. Karen Dickson (2004) and Josie Lavin (2003) are SPU’s other individual GNAC cross country women’s champions. Returning to the Falcon lineup with experience from last year’s conference meet are Matise Mulch (28th place, 22:38.0), Anna Prussian (36th place, 23:12.6), Maya Ewing (51st place, 23:48.4), Katelyn Flolo (54th place, 23:59.6) and Nicki Yorges (56th place, 24:02.1).
 
Blending a roster of upperclassmen and promising young talent, Western Oregon sets out for the championship meet after placing sixth in 2023. The top-finishing returner on the roster is junior Riley Smith, who placed 26th at last year’s conference meet with a time of 22:32.1. Junior Holly Hutton (30th, 22:50.0), senior Katie Chapman (34th, 23:03.9), sophomores Kaydence Nguyen (42nd, 23:40.0) and Amelia Merritt (46th, 23:44.7) and senior Olivia Flack (48th, 23:45.2) are the Wolves’ other top performers from last year’s meet that are back on the roster.
 
Morgan Erler has enjoyed a strong junior campaign for the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks, collecting her second collegiate cross country win at the Mike Johnson Classic on Sept. 27 in Monmouth, Ore. Erler clocked a PR 6k time of 21:30.3 to top the field of 48 competitors, and projects to be the Nighthawks’ top performer on Saturday. Erler led the team with a 16th-place finish at the 2023 GNAC Championships, posting a time of 21:57.3. Olivia Klein (37th, 23:18.2) and Keelin Stewart (45th, 23:43.6) are NNU’s other returning runners who finished in the top-50 at last year’s GNAC meet. NNU finished eighth as a team with 184 points in 2023.
 
Youthful Saint Martin’s and Central Washington teams will look to build a name for themselves at this year’s meet as well. Although the Saints placed second in last year’s team standings, their lone returner to finish in the top-50 at the GNAC Championships is Kya Ramirez (44th, 23:41.5). SMU’s roster contains four freshmen, one sophomore and one junior in addition to the lone senior Ramirez. The Wildcats, who placed ninth at last year’s meet, will look to a strong core of youthful runners to improve their score this fall. Sophomore Hannah Mikkelsen led the team at the 2023 GNAC Championships, placing 47th with a time of 23:45.0. Payton Conover has had a strong freshman debut, highlighted by an eighth-place finish at the Pacific Lutheran Invitational on Sept. 21. Hannah Pidduck is another freshman that has had a promising start to her career, coming off a 30th-place finish among a field of 216 runners at the Charles Bowles Invitational two weeks ago.
 
Montana State Billings will look to a trio of upperclassmen with GNAC experience on Saturday. Junior Carey Berendsen was the team’s top finisher last year in 50th place (23:46.4), and junior Cecily Eagleton was close behind in 53rd place (23:55.2). Senior Madeline Severson is set for her final GNAC Championships race after placing 66th (24:58.3) at last year’s event.
 
 
MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
It will take the performance of a lifetime for anybody to catch the Vikings, who made a statement by placing second as a team at the Lewis Crossover two weeks ago. Climbing into the top-10 among the USTFCCCA national rankings, WWU was bested only by a Colorado School of Mines team that was ranked third nationally. The next-closest GNAC team at the event was Northwest Nazarene, which finished 16th among the field of 36 teams. The WWU men also had an impressive second-place finish at the Bill Roe Classic, finishing only behind a Chico State team that was ranked ahead of them nationally. Alaska Anchorage finished third at that meet with 110 points – 65 points behind the Vikings.
 
While the team race may not be close, the individual men’s crown figures to be just as exciting as it was a season ago. Reigning champion Kevin McDermott of WWU, who pulled off a memorable sprint down the final stretch to fend off runner-up Johan Correa of CWU, will certainly be among the title contenders this year. McDermott was just the second man in WWU history to win the GNAC Championships individual title, joining 2002 winner Paul Kezes. He will have a chance to become the fourth man in GNAC history to post back-to-back titles, with the most recent being Alaska Anchorage’s Henry Cheseto in 2014-15. Appearing to be in top form, McDermott was the GNAC’s top finisher in third place at the Bill Roe Classic on Sept. 28 (24:05.4, 8k), and in ninth place at the Lewis Crossover on Oct. 12 (24:16.8, 8k).
 
In addition to McDermott, the Vikings return all-conference finishers Ryan Clough (ninth, 25:21.2) and Jeret Gillingham (10th, 25:21.6) from last year’s championship race in Anchorage. Clough was the team’s top finisher at the NCAA Championships, placing 73rd among 260 runners with a 10k time of 30:51.7 Jalen Javurek was 12th at the GNAC Championships (25:40.4), Samuel Lingwall was 16th (25:53.3) and Jason Blinn was 19th (25:57.5), with all three back on the WWU roster this fall.
 
Correa used the disappointment at last year’s conference meet as fuel for his NCAA West Region Championships individual title and wound up as an All-American being the GNAC’s top finisher at last year’s national meet in 17th place. Correa will have his sights set on becoming the first man in CWU history to win the GNAC Championships individual title. The reigning GNAC Newcomer of the Year has looked strong thus far in 2024, finishing in the top-six in all three races he has competed in. He is coming off an 8k PR time of 23:59.2 at the Charles Bowles Invitational on Oct. 5, where he was the top Division II finisher in fifth place.
 
The 2024 GNAC individual crown could very well come down to another neck-and-neck finish between McDermott and Correa, but they’re not the only runners who have a chance to claim the individual title. Bursting onto the scene this fall has been CWU’s Ramon Rodriguez, who won the 2024 Pacific Lutheran Invitational on Sept. 21 crossing the finish line in tandem with Correa. The Spaniard then ran a season-best 8k time of 23:59.7 at the Charles Bowles Invitational, crossing the line just behind Correa in sixth place. Senior transfers Will McGonigal (Wayne State) and Noah Sanchez (Green River College) could help give the Wildcats the depth needed to break into the upper half of the team standings. CWU placed sixth at last year’s event.
 
Northwest Nazarene’s Brody Kemble has evidenced that he is up for a shot at the individual title, after making headlines throughout the 2024 fall campaign. The junior stormed to victory at the Mike Johnson Classic on Sept. 27, topping a field of 72 runners with an 8k PR time of 24:15.9. Just over a week later at the Whitman Invitational, Kemble put forth a late surge to chase down a swath of Gonzaga runners (NCAA Division I) and beat a field of 81 runners for his second straight triumph. In his fifth and final race of the 2024 regular season, Kemble was the third-finishing GNAC runner at the Lewis Crossover as he placed 23rd overall in 24:32.8. Kemble has already proven his ability to win gold medals, as he claimed the crown in the 10,000 meters at the 2024 GNAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships. After he earned all-conference with a seventh-place finish at last year’s GNAC Championships, Saturday will provide Kemble the opportunity to become Northwest Nazarene’s second cross country GNAC champion. Francis Kimeli won the inaugural GNAC Championships for NNU in 2001.
 
 
As a team, the Nighthawk men placed fifth last season and have shown signs that they are hungry to improve their standing on Saturday. Right behind Kemble at the Mike Johnson Classic were sophomore Ian Stockett in second place (24:26.9) and junior Grady Mylander in third place (24:27.0) as the Nighthawks edged Western Oregon for the team title. Mylander is a Utah State transfer who figures to be among contenders for the GNAC Newcomer of the Year award. Quincy Ellis (29th, 26:24.3) and Asher Ingram (42nd, 26:52.2) give the Nighthawks two more returners who finished in the top-50 at last year’s conference meet.
 
Alaska Anchorage, last year’s GNAC runner-up, projects as an upper-half team despite losing its two all-conference runners from 2023 in Cole Nash (third, (25:01.8) and Michael Zapherson (sixth, 25:10.7). Portland State transfer Zachary Grams will be on GNAC Newcomer of the Year watch on Saturday, after leading the team with a 45th-place finish at the Lewis Crossover on Oct. 12 (24:49.1, 8k). Grams also posted a career-best 8k time of 24:29.0 on Sept. 28 at the Bill Roe Classic, where he finished 18th. John Peckham returns for UAA after finishing 11th at last year’s conference meet in 25:22.0. Ty Elliott (18th, 25:56.9) and Ries Tveit (39th, 26:45.2) are also back after each contributing to last year’s runner-up team finish.
 
Simon Fraser, which placed third at last year’s GNAC Championships, is another team that will have to replace its top conference performer in 2023 senior Sebastian Brinkman (fourth, 25:02.0). Senior Jose Castro is the top returner from last year’s meet, placing 14th with a time of 25:49.2. Senior Scott Arndt (21st, 26:04.2), junior Benjamin Schoening (30th, 26:27.4), and junior Andrew Thomson (37th, 26:42.9) give the Red Leafs the depth to make them a favorite for an upper-half team finish. Senior Braden Ahl, who placed 49th at last year’s conference meet, recently ran a PR 8k time of 25:38.4 at the Bill Roe Classic and could be another point scorer for SFU.
 
The Western Oregon men will look to build off last year’s fourth-place team finish and will rely on their top returner in senior Easton Pomrankey (25th, 26:13.9). Pomrankey clocked an 8k PR of 24:36.7 on Sept. 27 on his way to a fourth-place finish at the Mike Johnson Classic. Also back on the Wolves’ roster are sophomore Ethan Bothwell (33rd, 26:37.1), junior Kolby Spink (36th, 26:41.0), senior Jordan Kemper (41st, 26:46.8), sophomore Grant Bohannon (43rd, 26:55.9) and sophomore Isaiah Rodriguez (46th, 26:59.1) who were all in the top-50 at last year’s meet.
 
A young Alaska Fairbanks squad has hinted that it could be in for improvement upon last year’s ninth-place team finish. Freshman Benjamin Browning started his career by finishing second at the Seawolf Throwdown on Aug. 31 and clocked an 8k PR time of 25:16.9 at the Bill Roe Classic on Sept. 28. His 35th-place finish at the event was 14th among GNAC runners, making him a candidate for GNAC Freshman of the Year on Saturday. Sophomore Ben Dohlby (32nd, 26:36.1) and junior Philipp Moosmayer (44th, 26:57.8) are the top returners with GNAC experience for the Nanooks.
 
Saint Martin’s, Seattle Pacific and Montana State Billings are a trio of teams that will look towards improvement after finishing seventh, eighth and 10th, respectively at last year’s GNAC Championships. Silas Demmert is SPU’s top returner, after placing 38th with a time of 26:44.0 at last year’s event. Saint Martin’s will look to Eli Dale (50th, 27:07.2) to lead the way, and MSU Billings features a roster with four freshmen, a sophomore and junior leading returner Wyatt May (66th, 27:58.1).