Women's 6K Results
Men's 8K Results
YAKIMA, WA - The Alaska Nanooks women's cross country team finished fourth overall for the second stright year and senior
Theresia Schnurr landed a top-10 finish good for All-Conference honors on Saturday morning at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships held at the Apple Ridge Run Cross Country Facility.
Alaska Anchorage swept the individual and team titles in both races. The UAA women's squad posted 31 points in the victory over Simon Fraser (76 points) and Western Washington (87), which finished second and third, respectively. The Nanooks followed the Vikings with 97 points, while Seattle Pacific rounded out the top-five with 110 points.
"Western is ranked 16th in the Nation and we were only 10 points behind them today," said Alaska's assistant coach Matt Dunlap. "It's impressive and shows our women that they (WWU) might not be as far out of reach at regionals as they thought."
Schnurr started out the women's six kilometer race more conservatively (among the top 10-15 runners), a strategy that paid dividends for her in Hawaii three weeks ago. It again proved a smart choice as she was able to move up through the pack as she worked her way through the course and had a strong kick at the finish, managing to hold off a group of her compeititors for sixth overall in 22 minutes 44 seconds.
Adding to the excitment of the strong finish was the fact that Schnurr crossed the tape just ahead of Seattle Pacific's Natty Plunkett, who had won both of the races hosted by the Nanooks in Fairbanks in early September.
"Plunkett runs smart races and Theresia was able to hold her off today," Dunlap said. "She (Schnurr) looked very good coming down the home stretch and it was the first time all year she beat her (Plunkett)."
The Blue and Gold's top three finishers all landed spots in the top-20 as senior
Crystal Pitney was 14th in 23:02 and junior
Heather Edic was 20th in 23:26. Rounding out Alaska's scoring runners were junior Raphaela Seiber (23:28, 23rd), senior
Jana Benedix (24:01, 34th), sophomore
Alyson McPhetres (24:27, 45th) and freshman
Kryston McPhetres (25:32, 60th).
On the men's side, junior
Tyler Kornfield led the way, crossing the finishline in 26 minutes 46 seconds good for 37th overall. Sophomores
Andrew Arnold (26:51) and
Tux Seims (27:01) completed the Nanooks' top three finishers, in 41st and 43rd overall.
Also representing Alaska were junior Lars Arenson (27:53,61st), and rookies
Ludwig Schott (27:59, 66th), Jonas Loffler (28:32, 74th) and
Kenneth Brewer (28:34, 75th).
"Our guys have gotten faster across the board, so it was neat to see some of our guys beat some of the guys that they raced against in our home meets earlier in the year," said Dunlap. "Although we were tenth in the team standings, our conference has gotten much faster overall. They raced well and its nice to see their hard work pay off when it counts."
Both squads will be back in action at the NCAA Div. II West Region Championships on Nov. 5, when they travel to Spokane, Wash.
2011 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships
Women's 6K Race Conditions: Start Time: 10:00 a.m. PDT,
Temperature: 49 degrees F,
Wind: 1 mph SSW, Weather: Cloudy
Women's Team Scores: Alaska Anchorage 31, Simon Fraser 76, Western Washington 87, Alaska Fairbanks 97, Seattle Pacific 110, Northwest Nazarene 173, Western Oregon 196, Montana State Billings 234, Saint Martin's 236, Central Washington 269
Women's All-Conference Performers (Top 10): 1) Ruth Keino, Alaska Anchorage, 21:26; 2) Jessica Smith, Simon Fraser, 21:39; 3) Mirian Kipng'eno, Alaska Anchorage, 22:12; 4) Ivy O'Guinn, Alaska Anchorage, 22:24; 5) Lindsey Butterworth, Simon Fraser, 22:36; 6)
Theresia Schnurr, Alaska Fairbanks, 22:44; 7) Natty Plunkett, Seattle Pacific, 22:44; 8) Heidi Laabs-Johnson, Seattle Pacific, 22:44; 9) Lauren Briehof, Western Washington, 22:45; 10) Whitney Mickelsen, Montana State Billings, 22:51.
Women's Top Newcomer: Heidi Laabs-Johnson, Seattle Pacific (8th place finish)
Men's 8K Race Conditions: Start Time: 10:58 a.m. PDT, Temperature: 57 degrees F, Wind: 2 mph SW, Weather: Partly Sunny
Men's Team Scores: Alaska Anchorage 27, Western Washington 63, Western Oregon 80, Northwest Nazarene 139, Saint Martin's 151, Seattle Pacific 161, Simon Fraser 193, Central Washington 203, Montana State Billings 220, Alaska Fairbanks 228
Men's All-Conference Performers (Top 10): 1) Micah Chelimo, Alaska Anchorage, 24:24; 2) Barak Watson, Northwest Nazarene, 24:31. 3) Kyle Van Santen, Saint Martin's, 25:00; 4) Alfred Kangogo, Alaska Anchorage, 25:13; 5) Tyler Cannon, Western Washington, 25:18; 6) Yonatan Yilma, Alaska Anchorage, 25:18; 7) Dylan Anthony, Alaska Anchorage, 25:32; 8) Spencer Hunt, Saint Martin's, 25:38; 9) Isaac Kangogo, Alaska Anchorage, 25:41; 10) Dak Riek, Western Washington, 25:44.
Men's Top Newcomer: Tyler Cannon, Western Washington (5th place finish)
