BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Johan Correa took second place at the Great Northwest Atlantic Conference Championships on Saturday afternoon as he completed the 8K in 24:29.5. Ramon Rodriguez took third place as he completed the 8K in 24:32.9.
 
QUOTING JOHAN CORREA
"I am upset with today's result, but I feel like the last part of the race could have gone better if I had realized certain things earlier. I learned from my mistakes, so for the next race, I will perform better."
 
QUOTING RAMON RODRIGUEZ
"Today wasn't a great day. I was paddling against the current the whole race to keep up with the lead group. Congratulations Johan for his second place and great race. Now we have two weeks ahead to keep training and to bring CWU's name to the top."
 
QUOTING HEAD COACH JONATHAN HILL
"Championship races are tough. We took some chances to make history. We beat our preseason ranking on both sides, improved on our standings from a year ago on both sides, and had two of the top three guys in the race, so we have a lot to be proud of."
"Our men swung for the fences, and for Ramon and Johan, it paid off. It was a good field and a tough race. Credit to WWU for showing up once again and taking the trophy. Anyone could have won it, but Johan getting second again and Ramon claiming newcomer athletes of the year (won on 2023 as well) are huge for us. We're better than we were but haven't put together the really solid one through seven race yet. When we do, it'll be something to see."
"We had some spectacular improvements on the women's side, Hannah Mikkelson and Camryn Holterhoff had huge prs, and Beatrice had a solid day in her season 6K debut. Payton, Hannah, Helayna, Araceli, Julie and Bailey all performed really well in their GNAC debut. This group was seeded ninth and got to seventh, tallying around 90 fewer points than last year. As this group continues to improve together, we'll see that number continue to drop."
 
RACE RESULTS
The men's team finished 5^th with 95 points. The 'Cats beat out Simon Fraser, Alaska Fairbanks, Seattle Pacific and Saint Martin's.
Correa led the men and finished in 2^nd place. Ramon Rodriguez finished 3^rd and Luke Hurd placed 27^th with a time of 25:42.6 representing the 'Cats third runner.
The women's team finished 7^th with 180 points. The Crimson and Black beat out Northwest Nazarene, Montana State Billings and Saint Martin's.
Payton Conover led the women and finished 31^st with a time of 23:03.7. Hannah Pidduck was close behind as she finished 33^rd with a time of 23:12.0. Araceli Esquivel and Camryn Holterhoff placed 42^nd and 43^rd with times of 23:38.9 and 23:41.6. Beatrice Le Gore finished 46^th with a time of 23:45.2.
 
UP NEXT
Your Wildcats travel to Billings, Montana to compete in the NCAA West Regional on Saturday, November 9^th at Amend Park.