October 18, 2007

Jacket Harriers to Run at GNAC Championships Saturday

BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State Billings men’s and women’s cross country teams will compete in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships in Nampa, Idaho, on Saturday.  The Yellowjackets, fresh off a three-week break in competition, will be seeing GNAC competition for the first time this season.

The MSUB women were Heartland Conference champions last season, but most of the Lady Jackets’ top runners in 2007 have been freshmen.  Mykel Ler (Sidney) and Dianna Stanley (Miles City) has each been the Jackets’ top finisher twice in their four races.  In three of the four races, the Yellowjackets’ first four placers were freshmen, including Morgan Streeter (Ryegate) and Katie Thiel (Powell, Wyo.).  Junior Cierra Dornfeld (Woodbury, MN) worked her way into the team’s top four at the Rocky Mountain Shootout, the Jackets’ last race in September.

The Yellowjacket men are also young and have been finishing back in the pack.  Senior Jarred Rensvold (Wolf Point) has been the top finisher in three of four races, posting career best times along the way.  Freshman Ryan Ceynar (Glendive) has been the Jackets’ second-best runner this season.

MSU Billings will be trying to break into the top half of a conference that includes national powers.  The favorites to win the women’s title are the Seattle Pacific Falcons, who have won six of the last 10 conference crowns.  Two-time defending conference champion Western Washington will be the team to watch on the men’s side.
 

Read below for the championship meet preview by the Great Northwest Athletic Conference:

Western Washington and Seattle Pacific will try to defend their men’s and women’s team titles in the seventh annual Great Northwest Athletic Conference cross country championships Saturday (Oct. 20) at West Park in Nampa.

The Vikings, who are ranked 11th nationally, will be gunning for their third GNAC men’s title (they also won in 2003), while Seattle Pacific, which is ranked seventh, will be seeking its third women’s title in the past four years. 

Going back to their previous membership in the PacWest, the Falcon women have won six of the past 10 conference titles.  Seattle Pacific and returning All-American Jessica Pixler, will be  prohibitive favorites to repeat.  

Pixler won the women’s individual title and finished 10th in the national meet as a freshman, while Alaska Anchorage junior David Kiplagat  is the defending men’s conference champion.

Western Washington has shown excellent depth this fall in earning its No. 11 men’s national ranking. 

The Vikings, who had seven of the Top 11 finishers in winning their own invitational earlier this month, have had three different athletes lead them in various events, including Anthony Tomsich, who won the Viking Invitational  and placed ninth in the invitational division at the UW Sundodger in September.

WWU’s Bennett Grimes was the only GNAC finisher in the Top 10, placing seventh, at the Firman Invitational in Boise, while Blake Medhaug was the top collegiate finisher at the Emerald City Invitational.  Both Grimes and Medhaug are redshirt freshman.

Tomsich is one of five returning Top 10 finishers from last year’s men’s race, including the top four finishers.  Kiplagat finished first in an 8,000-meter time of 24:27.27, 21 seconds ahead of Central Washington’s Sam Scotchmer.   Tomsich was third and John Riak of Saint Martin’s placed fourth.

Riak has three individual wins this fall (in the Northwest and SMU Invitationals and in the open division of the UW Sundodger) and has a GNAC-record 10 career victories.

Western Washington’s Keever Henry was also a Top 10 finisher a year ago, placing seventh.  The Vikings’ Keith Lemay was 11th.

Alaska Anchorage, which is ranked 19th nationally, probably has the best opportunity to dethrone WWU though Mick Boyle (16th) and  Austin Ellis (29th) are the only other returning runners off last year’s runnerup finishers in addition to Kiplagat.

Western Oregon, which has won two team titles this fall  (at Saint Martin’s and at Pacific Lutheran), is the only other GNAC team ranked in the Top 10 in the latest NCAA West Regional poll.  The Wolves are ranked seventh.

Seattle Pacific returns five runners who placed among the Top 12 finishers, off last year’s women’s conference championship team.

In addition to Pixler, who is also the defending West Regional champion, back are Karin Rohde, Jane Larson, Suzie Strickler and Kate Harline, who placed seventh, ninth, 11th and 12th, respectively.

The Falcons are currently ranked third in the West Region, one of six GNAC teams ranked in the Top 10.

Seattle University, Western Washington, Central Washington, Northwest Nazarene and Alaska Anchorage are ranked sixth through 10th, respectively.

Those teams figure to battle for runnerup honors in back of SPU.

Seattle, which finished second at the WWU Invitational behind SPU, has never finished higher than fourth in the conference meet and only twice has been higher than seventh.   Katie Hansen, who was fourth at Bellingham, has been SU’s leader this fall.

Central Washington, Alaska Anchorage and Northwest Nazarene each return one all-conference performer off of last year’s squads.

CWU senior Katie Hummel finished third in both the 2006 conference and regional meets,  and then placed 12th in the national meet to win All-American honors.

UAA junior Elizabeth Chepkosgei placed fifth in last year’s conference meet and has had a strong fall season, winning the UAA Invitational and finishing second at Willamette and Western Washington.

NNU junior Ashley Puga placed 10th a year ago and finished second in the NNU Invitational, fourth in the Firman Regional preview and fifth at Willamette.

Sarah Porter has led the Vikings this fall, placing fifth to lead Western Washington to a third-place team finish in their own invitational and joining Pixler and Puga with Top 10 finishes (ninth) at the regional preview.

Following the conference meet, most of the GNAC teams will advance to the NCAA West Regional meet Saturday, Nov. 3 at Eagle Island in Boise.

The top three men’s teams and the top four women’s teams at the regional meet will advance to the national meet Nov. 17 at Joplin, Mo. along with the top two individuals not on a qualifying team or anyone else among the Top 5.