ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Annika Esvelt was ready to go racing on Saturday – and that's exactly what she did.

The Seattle Pacific junior went toe-to-toe with Alaska Fairbanks stars Kendall Kramer and Rosie Fordham for much of the day and came away with a third-place finish at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships.
 
Esvelt finished her 6 kilometers through Kincaid Park in 21 minutes, 4.5 seconds, leading the Falcons to a seventh-place team finish. Her time was easily her personal best for 6K, beating the 21:41.30 that she posted in her season debut at the PLU Invitational on Sept. 16.
 
"I'm super excited. It was probably the best cross country race I've ever had – and I've had a lot," Esvelt said. "I really competed, and I didn't doubt myself. I just kept going and pushing."
 
Kramer made it two titles in a row. The Nanooks junior came across in 20:46.2, and fellow junior Fordham was second in 20:55.5.
 
Esvelt's finish was her highest ever at GNAC. She was ninth as a redshirt freshman in 2021 and 18th last fall.
 
 

"I sort of jumped to the front right from the beginning, because it all started out really fast," Esvelt said. "And then I was pretty much with (Kramer and Fordham) through the first 3K. They got me a little bit the second (loop), but I never fell off that much, and it was a lot of fun. It was super fun to be able to stay on the whole time."
 
"Annika did her thing today," assistant coach / distance coach Eric Hansen said. "We know what she's capable of. By the time they came out of the woods the first time, coming up halfway, it was already a three-person race, and she was in the mix."
 
The Falcons finished with 153 points. Defending champion Western Washington easily won its second straight team title, this time with 49 points. Saint Martin's was second with 71.
 
 

Esvelt wasn't the only SPU runner to post a 6K PB. Sophomore Matise Mulch, the second Falcon finisher and 28th overall, clocked 22:38, and freshman Anna Prussian, running on a course with which she was familiar from her time at Sitka High School, finished in 23:12.6, scoring No. 3 for Seattle Pacific and placing 36th overall.
 
Sophomores Maya Ewing (51st) and Katelyn Flolo (54th) completed the scoring.
 
 

"We definitely had some who had their best races of the season," Hansen said. "The thing about the conference meet is everyone is stepping up, so just to finish where you're projected, you have to step up your own game, as well. We had some people do that, but other teams had some really good races, too.
 
"Matise was as strong as she has been all season, and Katelyn and Nicki (Yorges) definitely had their best races of the year today," Hansen added.

 
 

LeBLANC SETS PACE FOR FALCON MEN
Senior Brennan LeBlanc ran to a 22nd-place finish in the men's 8-kilometer race, and the Falcons finished eighth in the team standings.
 
LeBlanc came into the chute in 26 minutes, 6.8 seconds.
 
 

Freshman Silas Demmert who, like Prussian, competed at Sitka High School and has raced previously at Kincaid Park, was SPU's No. 2 scorer and placed 38th overall in 26:44.0.
 
Sophomore Isaac Venable (47th), freshman Jonathan Lieb (62nd) and sophomore Nathaniel Gale (71st), were the Nos. 3-4-5 scorers for Seattle Pacific, which finished with 217 points.

"Some people definitely looked as good as they have all season," Hansen said. "But some of those teams that we were going back and forth with earlier in the year definitely stepped up more than we did today.
 
"Silas had a really good one today," he continued. "Obviously, he's really familiar with this course, and he felt he had a lot more to run for, being up here on more of a home course type of feel. Brennan had a big goal of being All-Conference (top 10) today. He took a shot, but didn't quite have the gas to hang on there at the end with those guys."

Western Washington's Kevin McDermott came through with a big final 3 kilometers and won in 24 minutes, 44 seconds. The Vikings had four of their five scorers among the overall top 10 and finished with 37 points. Host Alaska Anchorage was second with 51.

UP NEXT
The NCAA West Regionals are set for Western Oregon University's Ash Creek Preserve in Monmouth on Saturday, Nov. 4. The 6K women's race is at 10:00 a.m., with the men's 10K at 11:15. The top three teams and top five individual finishers in each race earn automatic invitations to the NCAA Division II Championships on Saturday, Nov. 18 in Joplin, Mo. Teams that don't finish in the top three will be considered for one of the eight at-large bids. In addition, the top two finishers from among the non-qualifying teams will be invited, regardless of where they place.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
GNAC Championships
Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023
6 kilometers at Kincaid Park / Anchorage, Alaska
 
Team scores – 1, Western Washington 49; 2, Saint Martin's 71; 3, Alaska Fairbanks 86; 4, Simon Fraser 103; 5, Alaska Anchorage 137; 6, Western Oregon 141; 7, Seattle Pacific 153; 8, Northwest Nazarene 184; 9, Central Washington 272; 10, Montana State Billings 273.
 
Top 10 – 1, Kendall Kramer (UAF) 20:46.2; 2, Rosie Fordham (UAF) 20:555; 3, Annika Esvelt (SPU) 21:04.5; 4, Ashley Reeck (WWU) 21:16.9; 5, Nell Baker (UAA) 21:18.5; 6, Cassidy Walchak-Sloan (STM) 21:20.0; 7, Ila Davis (WWU) 21:30.0; 8, Alisha Saucedo (STM) 21:40.7; 9, Sara Sabra (STM) 21:42.1; 10, Elke Wiljkmans (STM) 21:43.8.
 
Other SPU – 28, Matise Mulch 22:38.0; 36, Anna Prussian 23:12.6; 51, Maya Ewing 23:48.4; 54, Katelyn Flolo 23:59.67; 56, Nicki Yorges 24:02.1.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
GNAC Championships
Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023
8 kilometers at Kincaid Park / Anchorage, Alaska
 
Team scores – 1, Western Washington 37; 2, Alaska Anchorage 51; 3, Simon Fraser 80; 4, Western Oregon 142; 5, Northwest Nazarene 145; 6, Central Washington 161; 7, Saint Martin's 187; 8, Seattle Pacific 217; 9, Alaska Fairbanks 220; 10, Montana State Billings 259.
 
Top 10 – 1, Kevin McDermott (WWU) 24:43.5; 2, Johan Correa (CWU) 24:47.7; 3, Cole Nash (UAA) 25:01.8; 4, Sebastian Brinkman (Simon) 25:02.0; 5, Andrew Oslin (WWU) 25:07.9; 6, Michael Zapherson (UAA) 25:10.7; 7, Brody Kemble (NNU) 25:12.0; 8, Isaac Cortes (STM) 25:16.9; 9, Ryan Clough (WWU) 25:21.2; 10, Jeret Gillingham (WWU) 25:21.6.
 
SPU – 22, Brennan LeBlanc 26:06.8; 38, Silas Demmert5 26:44.0; 47, Isaac Venable 27:00.1; 62, Jonathan Lieb 27:49.2; 71, Nathaniel Gale 28:27.4; 73, Gabe Endresen 28:34.7; 77, Ben Sheirbon 29:02.9.