ANCHORAGE, Alaska. – Johan Correa took second place at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday. Correa completed the 8K in 24:47.7. Hannah Mikkelsen led the women finishing the 6K in 23:45.0. The men's team finished 6^th and the women placed 9^th.

Correa talked about his second-place performance. "This race was pretty tough. There were a lot of hills, and it was cold too. The rest was mostly mental. I was fighting for first place and then in those last 200 meters I didn't have enough energy to finish and the guy from Western Washington just beat me."

QUOTING HEAD COACH JONATHAN HILL
"Today was an outstanding day, almost across the board. We were ranked 10th/9th in the preseason polls. We came out of the meet 9th/6th. Our women exceeded their projection by one place and did so by a single point. Every woman today was our most important runner. In a few years, these skills learned today will be the difference between much higher places."
 
Hill added, "Our men were once again led by the sensational Johan Correa. He's a winner, so second place wasn't his plan, but even the best can be beat. This is why we race. Steiner, Max, Chase, and Jack moved up in a big way to positively influence our team scores. 6th is not where we see ourselves, but that's what we earned today. I'm pleased with our progress and optimistic about our next opportunities."

RACE RESULTS
The men's team finished 6^th with 161 points. The 'Cats beat out Saint Martin's, Seattle Pacific, Alaska Fairbanks, and Montana State Billings.
 
Johan led the men and finished in 2^nd place. Freshman Steiner Christensen finished 20^th with a time of 26:01.6.
 
The 'Cats third runner, Max Hutton, ran the 8K in 26:46.4 and finished in 40^th.
 
The women's team finished 9^th with a score of 272 points, beating Montana State Billings by one.
 
Hannah Mikkelsen led the way, finishing the 6K in 47^th with a time of 23:45.0. Nicole Yanasak completed the race in 24:37.5 and Beatrice Le Gore crossed the line in 24:46.0.
 
To listen to Johan Correa's full interview, click HERE.

UP NEXT
Central Washington will compete in the NCAA Regional Championships on Saturday November 4^th in Monmouth, Oregon.