BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Annika Esvelt ran to a top-10 finish in the women's race, and Brennan LeBlanc was the leader for the Seattle Pacific men on Saturday morning at the Bill Roe Western Washington Classic cross country meet.
 
Esvelt completed her 6 kilometers at Lake Padden Park in 22 minutes, 4.9 seconds for 10th place. It was her first time on the Lake Padden course.
 
 

Her effort helped the Falcons finish seventh in the team standings with 197 points. That was fifth among the seven Great Northwest Athletic Conference teams in the meet. The University of Victoria won with 51, and Western Washington was second with 76.
 
Esvelt was nearly two full minutes in front of the SPU pack. As was the case at last Saturday's PLU Invitational in Tacoma, the Nos. 2, 3, and 4 Falcons stuck close together. Sophomore Matise Mulch was 54th in 24:03.0, freshman Anna Prussian was 55th in 24:04.1, and sophomore Maya Ewing was 59th in 24:12.4.
 
LeBlanc, a senior, crossed the finish line 38th in the 8-kilometer men's race, going the distance in 26:09.1. He was SPU's front runner for the third meet in a row.
 
Seattle Pacific was eighth with 248 points. As was the case on the women's side, the men were fifth among the seven GNAC schools that were entered in the meet.
 
Freshman Silas Demmert continued to move up the team ladder. He was the No. 2 finisher for the Falcons, placing 48trh overall in 26:35.4. He was the No. 5 SPU placer at the Puget Sound Invitational on Sept. 2 and moved up to No. 3 last week at Pacific Lutheran. His time on Saturday was a three-second improvement from PLU.
 
After racing on back-to-back weekends, Seattle Pacific will be off next week, then will conclude the four-meet regular season at the Emerald City Open on Saturday, Oct. 7, at Lower Woodland Park adjacent to Green Lake. The men's 8K starts at 10:30 a.m., followed by the women's 6K at 11:15.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Bill Roe Western Washington Classic
Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023
6 kilometers at Lake Padden Park / Bellingham, Wash.
 
Team scores – 1, U Victoria 51; 2, Western Washington 76; 3, Saint Martin's 92; 4, Alaska Fairbanks 121; 5, Simon Fraser 134; 6, Club Northwest 160; 7, Seattle Pacific 197; 8, Alaska Anchorage 211; 9, Central Washington 195; 10, Lake Sammamish Running Club 344; 11, Hawaii Hilo 357.
 
Top 5 – 1, Constance Nankivel (Trinity Western) 21:16.5; 2, Elise Coates (UVic) 21:38.9; 3, Rosie Fordham (UAF) 21:40.2; 4, Kendall Kramer (UAF) 21:44.8; 5, Anja Kreuger (UVic) 21:48.7.
 
SPU – 10, Annika Esvelt 22:04.9; 54, Matise Mulch 24:03.0; 55, Anna Prussian 24:04.1; 59, Maya Ewing 24:12.4; 77, Katelyn Flolo 25:29.9; 81, Nicki Yorges 25:52.1.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Bill Roe Western Washington Classic
Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023
8 kilometers at Lake Padden Park / Bellingham, Wash.
 
Team scores – 1, Western Washington 47; 2, Alaska Anchorage 62; 3, Simon Fraser 86; 4, U Victoria 93; 5, Club Northwest 150; 6, Premature Acceleration Athletic Club 157; 7, Saint Martin's 210; 8, Seattle Pacific 248; 9, Central Washington 260; 10, Alaska Fairbanks 289; 11, Seattle Running Club 404; 12, Lake Sammamish Running Club 427.
 
Top 5 – 1, Cole Nash (UAA) 24:41.7; 2, Sebasdtian Brinkman (Simon) 24:44.8; 3, Cameron Proceviat (Horizon Track Club) 24:55.0; 4, Kevin McDermott (WWU) 24:58.9; 5, Ephrem Mekonnen (Simon) 25:00.8.
 
SPU – 38, Brennan LeBlanc 26:09.1; 48, Silas Demmert 26:35.4; 59, Isaac Venable 26:57.8; 69 Nathaniel Gale 27:03.8; 76, Jonathan Lieb 27:23.1; 109, Gabe Endresen 29:07.2.