By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Racing to victory on their home course on a cloudy Saturday morning, Western Washington swept the team titles at the 2024 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships at Sudden Valley Golf Course.
 
Both the Viking men and women made it three consecutive team titles, after capturing the crowns in 2022 and repeating in 2023. The WWU men totaled 32 points while the women totaled 48 points to each comfortably claim the crown. “I am super proud, and cross country is a special thing to me,” said WWU cross country coach T.J. Garlatz, whose team was the first GNAC champion to hoist the trophy while competing on its home course. “We wanted to defend our home turf, and we came out well today.”
 
A late surge from Viking senior Jeret Gillingham led him to the individual title, as he crossed the line with an 8k time of 24:18.3. That was enough to hold off Central Washington’s Johan Correa, who finished as runner-up for the second year in-a-row with a time of 24:29.5. “It means the world having all the fans here, and they kept us in it the whole time pushing us,” said Gillingham.
 
Alaska’s Kendall Kramer became the second woman in GNAC history to claim three individual cross country titles, running away with a 6k time of 20:32.3. The reigning NCAA West Region Champion won the race by 22 seconds, with her teammate Rosie Fordham placing second in 20:54.3 to finish as runner-up for the second straight season. “We started out super relaxed, and our workouts have built us up to feel really good around this time of year,” said Kramer, a senior from Fairbanks.
 

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GNAC MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP
Race Time: 10 a.m. (PT) | Conditions: Mostly Cloudy, 45 Degrees F
 
Reigning GNAC champion Kevin McDermott of WWU and Correa, who dueled to the top two spots at the 2023 GNAC Championships, set the tone early at the front of the lead pack. Gillingham remained outside of the top-10 until more than halfway through the race, when he kicked things into high gear. By the time he reached the final turn he had a comfortable 10-second advantage ahead of Correa. “That late kick is about the earliest I have ever kicked in my life,” said Gillingham. “Just knowing this was my last GNAC meet and last chance to really put it out there kept me in it the whole time. Everyone started pulling up on the hills and I like hills, so I just started rolling and found myself in the front. Coming around that last lap with 2k to go, I just wanted to see what I had left in the tank and try to take it all the way home.”
 
 
Gillingham became the third man in WWU history to claim the GNAC individual title, joining McDermott from last year and Paul Kezes in 2002. “Jeret has just been the rock of the program for years, and you can’t rule a kid like that out when they have been working hard and gunning it,” Garlatz said. “He really came through today and it was really fun to see.”
 
Ryan Clough finished fourth in 24:36.2, George Karamitsos was seventh in 24:44.4, Jared Alderfer was ninth in 24:47.0 and McDermott crossed the line 11th (24:48.5) to help supply the team win for WWU. Jonah Billings wound up in 12th place with a time of 24:56.3, and earned GNAC Freshman of the Year honors. He is the sixth Viking to claim the honor and the first since Alderfer won it in 2022. “It is a great group overall, and I have been working with these guys for a really long time,” said Garlatz. “They have awesome camaraderie and we know we have really good, strong depth.”
 
CWU’s Ramon Rodriguez finished in third place with a time of 24:32.9, taking home the GNAC Newcomer of the Year honors. He is the fourth men’s runner in program history to win the award, after Trevor Kulvi in 2006, Manuel Santos in 2009 and Correa a season ago. Central Washington’s men finished in fifth place with 95 points.
 
Northwest Nazarene finished as the men’s team runner-up with 73 points, its best finish since it won the inaugural team title in 2001. Junior Brody Kemble, the 2024 GNAC Outdoor Track & Field champion in the 10,000 meters, led the Nighthawks with an all-conference finish in 10th place with a time of 24:47.3. “I am really proud of my guys, the team and where we come from,” said Kemble. “I am proud of how they ran today. They stuck their noses in it and when it got tough they didn’t give up. They ran for each other today, and I’m really proud of them.”
 
Newcomer Grady Mylander was right behind in 13th place at 25:02.2, and Ian Stockett was 14th in 25:03.9. Helping seal the runner-up finish for NNU were Asher Ingram in 17th place at 25:13.2 and Carter Stedman in 19th place at 25:16.6. “It says a ton about this team we have, because it is a group of brothers, and we also have to give a ton of credit to Coach (Greg) Mitchell,” said Kemble. “He has really built this program up. When I came here as a freshman we placed ninth at conference. We are heading in the right direction, but we aren’t satisfied yet.”
 
Alaska Anchorage’s men ran to a solid third-place team finish totaling 86 points. John Peckham led the way in fifth place overall with a time of 24:40.0 and newcomer Zachary Grams also earned all-conference in sixth place with a time of 24:42.4. Ty Elliott finished in 15th place for the Seawolves in 25:08.5.
 
Finishing with 95 points each were Western Oregon and Central Washington, with the Wolves placing fourth based on the tiebreaker. WOU’s Logan Parker ran with the lead group for the majority of the race, and earned all-conference with an eighth-place finish in 24:45.8. Easton Pomrankey crossed the line in 18th place in 25:15.4, Jordan Kemper was 22nd in 25:30.1 and Remedan Seman also finished in the top-25 in 24th place at 25:38.0.
 
Jose Castro was the top finisher for Simon Fraser, which wound up in sixth place with a score of 153 points. Castro finished in 20th individually with a time of 25:17.1 Next across the line for the Red Leafs were Benjamin Schoening in 25th place at 25:38.7 and Aiden Good in 26th place at 25:42.2.
 
The Alaska Nanook men placed seventh with 196 points, Seattle Pacific was eighth with 248 points and Saint Martin’s finished ninth with 257 points. Ben Dohlby was the top finisher for the Nanooks in 31st place in 25:43.3, while teammate Benjamin Browning was close behind in 35th place in 25:49.2. Silas Demmert led the Falcons in 42nd place with a time of 26:10.8 and Eli Dale was the top performer for the Saints in 26:14.0. Lennon Davis (59th, 27:13.2) and Wyatt May (68th, 27:35.6) were the two men’s runners representing Montana State Billings.
   

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GNAC WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP
Race Time: 11 a.m. (PT) | Conditions: Mostly cloudy, 46 Degrees F
 
Kramer asserted her dominance from the outset of the race, leaving no doubt on her way to her third straight title. Seattle Pacific’s Jessica Pixler won four straight GNAC cross country titles from 2006-09, the only other three-time champion. Kramer is the second woman in Alaska history to win the event, after Pavla Havlova claimed the 2005 title, and her time was the third-fastest by a women’s GNAC champion.
 
“It’s incredible, and I have been pushed so much by Kendall,” Fordham said on her teammate claiming her third straight crown. “I would not be running as fast as I do right now if she didn’t push me every race. It is just so impressive, and she is an incredible runner. No matter what is thrown at her she’ll find a way to make it work, and I have nothing but respect for the way that she handles herself in races and the way she pulls me through.”
 
Fordham kept pace with Kramer for the majority of the race and held comfortable separation from the field on the way to her second-straight all-conference performance. “At this time last year I had just dropped under 21 minutes at this meet, and now we are knocking time off every week,” said Fordham. “It’s nice to have improved a lot, and the conference has improved a lot. My freshman year I finished second in this meet as well, and I ran 40 seconds slower. It has been on the up since we have been here, and it has been nice to have been part of the rise of the GNAC.”
 
The second-place team finish for the Nanooks was their best in program history, besting third-place finishes in 2021 and 2023. “We have done a lot of the work and we really trust in Conrad (Haber)’s plan,” Kramer said on the team’s mindset ahead of the upcoming regional championships. “We have started off faster this season than any other, and it can only get better.”
 
The standout performances were not enough to overcome a powerful performance by the host Vikings, who placed all seven of their scoring runners within the top-14 to successfully defend their team crown. Ashley Reeck was the top-finishing Viking for the second year in a row, earning all-conference in sixth place with a time of 21:49.8. Sophie Wright and Ella Edens were also all-conference performers, finishing in ninth (21:58.8) and 10th (21:59.9), respectively. “We have a lot of returners this year, and everyone is really close together this year,” Reeck said. “Coming into this race I knew that I could depend on my teammates. I was in the front and was struggling, but I knew that behind me there was so much depth and that helped us get it done today. I wanted to get out a little harder than I have this season, and I have been trying to get my confidence back with racing. I started feeling that in the first part of the race, and the last part of the race was really hard. Overall I think I closed decently well and I’m pretty happy with how it went.”
 
The Vikings also occupied the next four spots on the leaderboard, with Danielle McLain in 11th place (22:06.6), Ila Davis in 12th place (22:09.5), Laura Halsell finishing 13th (22:17.6) and Emma Smith finishing 14th (22:18.3). WWU is the third school in GNAC history to win at least three straight GNAC titles, following Seattle Pacific (2005-08) and Alaska Anchorage (2009-13 and 2015-18). “I was really proud of the women,” Garlatz said. “We came in with a little bit of a chip on our shoulder, and we really wanted to show what kind of runners we are. We really committed to the race, and you never know on a given day which five or seven are going to show up. They know they have each other’s backs and they are going to commit to running a fast race. They know if they aren’t able to bring it that their teammates will support them, and that is the essence of cross country.”
 
Seattle Pacific finished fourth with 80 points for its best team performance in four years, with Annika Esvelt and Maya Ewing leading the way. Esvelt, the 2023-24 GNAC Female Scholar Athlete of the Year, finished in third place for the second straight season with a time of 21:02.3. Ewing was right behind in fourth place with a PR time of 21:43.3, displaying remarkable improvement after finishing 45th at the 2022 GNAC Championships and 51st at last year’s event.
 
Alaska Anchorage’s women were led to a third-place team finish (also with 80 points) by a pair of all-conference performers in senior Nell Baker and freshman Alexandra Otto. Baker, last year’s GNAC Newcomer of the Year, crossed the line in fifth place for the second straight season with a time of 21:45.9. Otto was named the GNAC Freshman of the Year, after placing eighth with a time of 21:57.5. Avery Williamson finished in 15th place with a time of 22:20.1, and Ryann Smith earned the GNAC Newcomer of the Year award in 28th place in 22:50.2.
 
Rachael Watkins was an all-conference performer for Simon Fraser, crossing the line in seventh place with a time of 21:56.1. The Red Leafs, who finished fifth with 95 points, were also led by Dayna Thompson in 20th place (22:30.9) and Charlotte Prangley in 21st place (22:33.7).
 
Western Oregon checked in at sixth place with 162 points, and was led by Kyla Potratz who finished 19th with a time of 22:29.9. The freshman tandem of Payton Conover and Hannah Pidduck led the Central Washington women to a seventh place finish with 180 points, as they finished 31st (23:03.7) and 33rd (23:12.0), respectively.
 
Northwest Nazarene was led by Morgan Erler, who crossed the line in 18th place with a time of 22:29.2. The Nighthawks wound up in eighth place overall with 208 points. Rounding out the team performances were Montana State Billings in ninth place with 279 points and Saint Martin’s in 10th place with 314 points. Cecily Eagleton was the Yellowjackets’ top finisher in 48th place with a time of 23:46.6, and Kya Ramirez led the Saints in 52nd place at 23:55.7.
 
NEXT UP: The 2024 NCAA West Region Cross Country Championships are set for Nov. 9 at Amend Park in Billings, Mont. The event is open to all west region teams in Division II, with the top teams and individuals earning qualification for the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships on Nov. 23 in Sacramento, Calif.