By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

MONMOUTH, Ore. – An unprecedented run of championship success continued on Saturday morning for Western Washington, which swept the women's and men's Great Northwest Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships team titles at Ash Creek Preserve.
 
The Viking men kicked off the day running away with the men’s team championship, posting five of the top-10 individual finishers on their way to 25 points. That marked the fourth-best team score in the 25-year history of the event, and the top performance since Alaska Anchorage’s men won with 21 points in 2015. The WWU women meanwhile followed with a team score of 44 points, holding off second-place Central Washington by seven points to claim the trophy. “Both the men’s and women’s teams had fantastic performances and we are all really proud of them,” said WWU head coach Ben Stensland. “T.J. Garlatz is doing a great job leading this crew and I think we have bigger things to come in the next few weeks. Our men’s team has some great leadership right now with Jared Alderfer and Jonah Billings, and it was great to see George Fernandez pull off the win.”
 
Ella Edens and George Fernandez earned the GNAC Female and Male Athlete of the Year awards, giving the Vikings a sweep of the individual titles as well. “Ella Edens had a really impressive performance with her 20:08 to win it,” Stensland said. “Her confidence just continues to build. More impressive was the performance of our whole women’s team, especially in that last 1K to fend off a really tough Central team.”
 

---

Men’s Special Award Winners
Athlete of the Year – George Fernandez, Western Washington
Newcomer of the Year – Benjamin Peck, Alaska Anchorage
Freshman of the Year – Rowan Jung, Western Washington
GNAC Elite Scholar Athlete – Eli Williams, Western Washington
 

---

Women’s Special Award Winners
Athlete of the Year – Ella Edens, Western Washington
Newcomer of the Year – Cameron Moore, Northwest Nazarene
Freshman of the Year – Maren Anderson, Western Oregon
GNAC Elite Scholar Athlete – Payton Conover, Central Washington
 
Dating back to the 2023 spring season, Western Washington has now won 22 consecutive women’s and men’s team trophies across the sports of cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field. The Vikings became the second GNAC men’s cross country team to win five straight titles, joining Alaska Anchorage which claimed seven straight from 2010-16. On the women’s side, WWU tied UAA for the most consecutive team titles with the Seawolves claiming every women’s crown (five in-a-row) from 2009-13.
 

---

Men’s Championship Race Recap
Fernandez topped the field of 79 competitors, clocking an 8k time of 23:37.5 minutes for his first collegiate cross country race victory. It was Fernandez’s second-straight all-conference effort, after he placed 10th at the 2025 GNAC Cross Country Championships. He became the fourth man in WWU history to win the meet, joining Jeret Gillingham (2024), Kevin McDermott (2023) and Paul Kezes (2002).
 
Right behind Fernandez were four more Vikings that earned all-conference recognition to help fuel the landslide team victory. Jared Alderfer took second with a time of 23:39.6 minutes, Spencer Zeljak was fifth in 23:52.8 minutes, Sten Brakstad placed seventh in 24:03.4 minutes and Luke Reiss finished 10th with a time of 24:13.0 minutes. It was the third straight all-conference effort for Alderfer, who took ninth place at both the 2025 and 2024 GNAC Cross Country Championships. Brakstad earned his second all-conference honor, after finishing as the runner-up at last year’s conference meet.
 
Bolstering the Vikings’ team score were Eli Williams in 12th place at 24:18.0 minutes and Jonah Billings in 15th place at 24:26.7 minutes, while Rowan Jung earned GNAC Freshman of the Year honors finishing 17th in 24:30.4 minutes. Jung is the sixth man in WWU history to earn the top freshman honor, joining teammates Billings (2024) and Alderfer (2022), as well as Deyago Peraza (2019), Daniel Phillips (2007), Cale McCulloch (2006) and Keever Henry (2004). Williams earned the GNAC Elite Scholar Athlete award, carrying a 3.98 GPA into his senior season.
 
Competing on its home course, Western Oregon finished a distant second in the team standings with 66 points. Senior Remedan Seman and junior Matthew Resnik were the Wolves’ all-conference finishers, taking eighth place in 24:05.1 minutes and ninth place in 24:10.6 minutes, respectively. Seman picked up his first all-conference honor after just missing out in 11th place last season, and it was Resnik’s first all-GNAC honor in cross country as well.
 
With 75 points, Alaska Anchorage checked in third in the men’s team standings behind a pair of all-conference efforts. Benjamin Peck followed the Viking tandem across the finish line, taking third place with a time of 23:46.1 minutes. A transfer from Florida Tech, Peck took home GNAC Newcomer of the Year honors becoming the ninth man in school history to do so. Previous Seawolves to claim that award were Ethan Ackroyd (2025), Michael Zapherson (2022), Wesley Kirui (2018), Jorge Sanchez (2017), Michel Ramirez (2014), Yonatan Yilma (2010), Marko Cheseto (2008) and Peter Doner (2007). Benjamin Browning was UAA's other all-conference performer, taking sixth place with a time of 23:55.6 minutes. 
 
Luke Stockett of Northwest Nazarene was the other all-conference runner on Saturday, clocking in at 23:48.4 minutes for a fourth-place finish.
 

---

Women’s Championship Race Recap
Edens continued her landmark senior season on the course, rushing to a 14-second victory margin ahead of runner-up Maddy Harrison of Central Washington and an overall field of 81 runners. Edens now has three individual wins and one third-place finish in her four cross-country races this fall, as the odds-on favorite entering the race came through. Edens ran a winning time of 20:08.7 minutes, picking up her third-straight all-conference honor after taking fifth place last year and fourth place at the 2024 championships.
 
Edens entered rarified air on Saturday, becoming the fifth woman in conference history to earn both the GNAC Freshman of the Year and GNAC Athlete of the Year awards in women’s cross country. She became the third Viking on the list.
 

GNAC Women’s Cross Country – Athlete of the Year & Freshman of the Year Winners
Athlete	School	Freshman of the Year	Athlete of the Year
Ella Edens	Western Washington	2023	2026
Caroline Kurgat	Alaska Anchorage	2014	2016 & 2017
Sarah Porter	Western Washington	2007	2010
Jessica Pixler	Seattle Pacific	2006	2006, 2007, 2008 & 2009
Ashlee Vincent	Western Washington	2001	2001 & 2002

 
The Vikings’ team win was fueled by six runners who all finished in the top-16 at the meet. Josephine Stevenson was WWU’s other all-conference performer, taking sixth place with a time of 21:02.3 minutes. It was far and away Stevenson’s best finish at the meet, after she placed 28th a season ago. Jill Philbin narrowly missed out on all-conference selection, giving her team an 11th-place finish with a time of 21:19.3 minutes. Kendall Carter followed in 12th place in 21:21.5 minutes, Danielle McLain was 14th in 21:23.3 minutes and Cecilia Villagomez Edvalson took 16th place in 21:33.9 minutes.
 
Central Washington’s Harrison, whose sophomore cross country season included a win and four top-10 finishes, crossed the line with a time of 20:22.7 minutes to pick up her first-career all-conference honor in cross country. Harrison won the gold medals in the 10,000-meters at the 2026 GNAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships and the 3,000-meters at the 2026 GNAC Indoor Track & Field Championships.
 
Right behind Harrison was her teammate Payton Conover, who took third place with a time of 20:48.1 minutes, and Dawn Hulstedt who finished fourth in 20:50.9 minutes. It was the first-career all-conference cross country performance for Conover, who finished 13th at last year’s conference meet. Conover was also the recipient of the GNAC Elite Scholar Athlete award, carrying a perfect 4.0 grade point average in her third year as a Wildcat. Hulstedt was a major contributor towards the Wildcats’ runner-up team score, earning all-conference in her debut at the GNAC Cross Country Championships. Saturday marked the best finish by the Central Washington women since they won their lone GNAC title in 2004. It was the second time that the Wildcats finished second as a team, with the other occurrence coming in 2002.
 
The home-standing Western Oregon Wolves posted a third-place team finish with 96 points on the women’s side, thanks in large part to a pair of all-conference finishers. Senior Kyla Potratz led the way in eighth place with a time of 21:06.0 minutes, marking her second-straight all-conference effort after taking fourth place last fall. Maren Anderson meanwhile grabbed GNAC Freshman of the Year honors, taking 10th place with a time of 21:14.7 minutes. It was the first time in the history of the conference that the top freshman award was achieved by a member of the Wolves’ roster.
 
GNAC Newcomer of the Year honors went to Cameron Moore of Northwest Nazarene, who led her team with a fifth-place finish in 20:57.7 minutes. A transfer from Utah State, Moore became the second woman in program history to earn the honor as she joined 2009 recipient Michele Phillips. Hazel Kunkel was another all-conference finisher for the Nighthawks, as she crossed the line in seventh place with a time of 21:04.5 minutes.
 
MEET NOTES: The GNAC record for lowest team men’s score of 18 was set by Alaska Anchorage in 2014…the Seawolves also had men’s team scores of 23 in 2012 and 21 in 2015 – the only other marks to better the Vikings’ performance on Saturday…it was the seventh time that the conference meet was hosted by the Wolves.
 
AHEAD: The 2026 NCAA West Region Cross Country Championships are set for Nov. 21 in Sacramento, Calif. The event is open registration for all GNAC competitors, with placement into the NCAA Cross Country Championships following based on performance at the regional meet.