MONMOUTH, Ore. – The men's and women's cross-country teams traveled south to Monmouth, Ore. to take on all GNAC opponents for the GNAC Championships. The men's squad finished sixth place with a team score of 157, just missing out on the top five, with Simon Fraser finishing with just three points less at 154. The tenth-ranked Western Washington Vikings were crowned the GNAC men's champs with a score of just 25. The women's race saw the #26 Wildcats finish second place with a team score of 51, falling just short of the women's #23 Vikings with their score of 44. This gave WWU the GNAC Cross Country Championship sweep for the fifth season in a row.
RACE RECAP:
The men's squad was without
Weston Breen today, who has led the men's squad in every event they have participated in this season. Today, it was
Chance Callinan who led the way for the 'Cats. He ran a 24:45.5, good enough for 25th place, as he was shortly followed by
Charlie Naught in 26th with a 24:49.4.
Colin Wear was the next man up for the Wildcats as he finished in 36th, running a 25:14.7. Christian Rosca and
Sam Wagner both finished in the top 50 with Rosca's 44th place run of 25:42.7 and Wagner's 48th place run of 25:49.2.
Sylas Allen was the final Wildcat to cross the line in 55th place with his time of 26:05.6. These runs put the Wildcats at 157 points on the afternoon, giving them sixth place in the 2026 Men's Cross Country Championship.
Madeline Harrison was once again the class of the Wildcat runners. She ran a 20:22.7 for a second-place finish behind Western Washington's Ella Edens' time of 22:08.7.
Payton Conover was not far behind Harrison, though, as she crossed the line for third place with a time of 20:48.1 and was quickly followed by
Dawn Hulstedt in fourth place with a 20:50.9. This gave the 'Cats three of the top five times in the event.
Hannah Pidduck was the next Wildcat to cross the line as she finished in 18th running her time of 21:39.9. Next up was
Lillian Neff in 24th as she finished with a time of 21:55.8.
Teagan Pentz closed out the top 30 with a run of 22:11.7.
Julie Johnson snuck into the top 50 at 48th as she ran a 22:47.2. Just missing out on the top 50 was
Grace Grossman in 52nd,
Audrey Lucas in 53rd and
Katie Manly in 55th. These runs were good enough to place the Wildcats in second place with 51, falling just short of the rival Vikings.
UP NEXT:
The women's team came into the GNAC Championships ranked #26 in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Women's National Poll. With another strong performance from the team, they will hope to move up the rankings and make it into the NCAA West Region Championships
