Photography by: Paul Merca.

PORTLAND, Ore. – It has been a dominant four years within the Great Northwest Athletic Conference for the Western Washington cross country program, and yet another headline performance last week indicated that the success has continued into the 2026 campaign.
 
Toeing the line among the largest competition of the regular season in Romeoville, Ill., on Saturday morning, the Viking men beat a field of 28 NCAA Division II teams to claim the title at the Lewis Crossover. In a meet featuring some of the top programs nationally, WWU emerged with the victory and was named the Athletic Solutions GNAC Team of the Week on Monday.
 
Western Washington had four runners finish in the top-31 among a field of 275 total competitors, on its way to finishing with a team score of 114. That was good enough for a six-point margin of victory ahead of team runner-up Findlay. "It was awesome to see the men's team come out victorious at the Lewis Crossover this past weekend," said WWU distance coach T.J. Garlatz. "We have been going to Lewis for years and it's our first time coming out on top. The meet is one of the best meets in the country year-in and year-out, and it's a good indication that we are ready to run well during the championship part of the season. I am super excited for what's to come."
 
GNAC Runner of the Week Jared Alderfer headlined the list of performances for WWU, finishing fourth overall with an 8k time of 24:21.9 minutes. A reigning all-conference and all-region performer, Alderfer finished ninth at the 2025 GNAC Championships, 13th at the 2025 NCAA West Region Championships and 55th at last year’s NCAA Championships.
 
George Fernandez checked in with an 11th-place finish with a time of 24:30.3 minutes, and Sten Brakstad followed in 24:38.9 minutes for 16th place. Each of them was an all-conference performer a season ago.
 
Other WWU runners whose scores counted on Saturday included Spencer Zeljak in 31st place (25:01.5 minutes), Nicky Luce in 52nd place (25:22.7 minutes), Eli Williams in 53rd place (25:24.7 minutes) and Cale O’Day in 64th place (25:33.6 minutes). It gave the Vikings a taste of conference competition as well, with five other GNAC schools competing in the race. Western Oregon was the other men’s team to finish in the top-10, taking eighth place with 214 points.
 
WWU’s women’s cross country team also had a successful showing, placing fifth among a field of 26 teams. It was the top performance by any of the six GNAC women’s programs competing at the event, and WWU’s Ella Edens earned GNAC Runner of the Week after placing third among a field of 246 runners with a 6k time of 21:39.3 minutes.
 
Western Washington is in the midst of an unprecedented streak of GNAC trophies across the sports of cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field. Since the spring of 2023, WWU has claimed all 20 of the conference championship team titles across both genders in the three separate sports. The Vikings have also swept each of the last four GNAC Cross Country Championships team titles, with the program’s nine men’s team trophies and five women’s team trophies each being the second-most of any GNAC program.
 
The Vikings have one more meet on their calendar prior to the 2026 GNAC Cross Country Championships, as they will host the WWU Padden Invitational on Oct. 24 at Lake Padden Park in Bellingham, Wash. WWU will set out to defend its GNAC title streak at the conference meet on Nov. 7 at Western Oregon University in Monmouth, Ore. Details on the GNAC Cross Country Championships can be found online here.
 
GNAC Team of the Week presented by Athletic Solutions
Athletic Solutions became a GNAC partner in 2025 and is the official sponsor of the GNAC Team of the Week award. Athletic Solutions is a national leader in NIL fan engagement and e-commerce technology, collaborating with colleges and universities to bring NIL Locker Rooms to life. Its platform simplifies NIL opportunities, providing student-athletes with the tools and exposure needed to thrive in the evolving landscape of college athletics.