PITTSBURGH, Penn. – The Western Washington University men’s and women’s cross country teams battled wet and muddy conditions at the NCAA Division II National Cross Country Championships on Saturday at Schenley Park.
The WWU women’s team placed 20th in the 34-team field, while the men placed 26th. The competition featured 34 Division II teams on the men’s and women’s side competing for the national championship.
“Both teams ran hard, but just didn’t have their best today, which is a little disappointing, but we will learn from this experience and hope to stoke the fire for a great track season and offseason training,” said WWU head coach Pee Wee Halsell. “The conditions were tough being very muddy and wet, but that’s the way it is sometimes. Overall, both teams had a great season and they should be very proud. This is a good step for both programs moving forward and gaining this experience at the national championships is great for the future.”
The women’s team was led by sophomore Jane Barr (Seattle, WA/Roosevelt) and junior Sophia Galvez (Los Alamitos, NM), with the two finishing side-by-side in 65th and 66th place. Barr clocked 24:01.5 to edge Galvez (24:02.2) as the Vikings top two finishers on the in the 6,000-meter race.
“The team ran hard, just came up a little short results wise. I thought Jane (Barr) and Sophia (Galvez) had really good performances, and several runners moved up during the race, they just couldn’t make up enough ground,” added Halsell.
Sophomore Eric Hamel (Enumclaw, WA) led the men’s team placing 58th in the field of 261 runners, finishing the 10,000-meter course in 33:56.6. He narrowly missed All-America honors (top 40) by just over 20 seconds, turning in a solid performance. Senior Jadon Olson (Mill Creek, WA/Jackson) finished 123rd finishing in 34:52.7.
“We got back to the nationals on the men’s side for the first time since 2014, so that was a good first step, the guys just didn’t have their best performance today,” said Halsell. “They are disappointed, but a great season where this experience will make them better going into next season with several runners returning. I am very proud of how Eric (Hamel) raced today, and it was great to see Dylan (Hayes) and Colton (Hoggarth) move up today and perform well.”
Perennial cross country power Grand Valley State swept the men’s and women’s team awards. Both the men’s and women’s races had to have a restart after racers went down in the first 100 meters of the starting line.
