BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Annika Esvelt makes it her business to go run with the leaders every time she steps to the starting line.
 
On Saturday, Maya Ewing served notice that she's ready to do the same thing.
 
Esvelt raced to a third-place finish, and Ewing was fourth, helping the Seattle Pacific women take fourth place as a team at the Great Northwest Cross Country Championships.
 
On a morning at Sudden Valley Golf & Country Club that was supposed to be rainy, but instead was a perfect cross country kind of day – no rain, no wind, temperatures in the 50s -- the Falcons finished with 80 points That tied with Alaska Anchorage for third. But the Seawolves got the higher place on the tiebreaker. Western Washington won its third straight title, this time with 48 points. Alaska Fairbanks was second with 74.
 
As expected, Esvelt and the Fairbanks combo of Kendall Kramer and Rosie Fordham went to the front right away and essentially stayed stride for stride through the first half of the 6-kilometer race. Kramer, seeking her third consecutive crown, gradually began to pull farther ahead.
 
She continued to enlarge her lead on the final loop and came across the finish line in 20 minutes, 32.3 seconds. Fordham was second in 20:54.3, then Esvelt in 21:02.3.
 
 

"I felt really good about it. I was definitely focused and in it the whole time and didn't give up," Esvelt said. "I was sort of coming back on Rosie and was closing the gap on her a little bit, but she always has a kick and the end, and I think she knew I was coming.
 
"Both her and Kendall are talented and amazing competitors. I wish I would have been a little bit closer the them, but I'm totally proud of the way I raced," Esvelt added.

 




Those three were way in front of everyone else. Ewing was with the lead chase pack, hanging in between ninth and 11th. Heading into the final 2K loop, she was still ninth. Ewing passed three more runners in the last kilometer to nab fourth place in 21:43.3 – beating not only everyone's No. 2 (except for Fordham), but also beating everyone else's No. 1 (except for Kramer and Esvelt).
 
"I was even thinking it would be a push to be top 10. To get fourth, I can't even believe It," Ewing said. "With 2K to go, I thought, 'I know I have to kick here.' Then all of a sudden, there were three girls ahead of me and I just kept gaining on them. So I was like, 'I've got to keep pushing now.'"
 
 

Added SPU distance coach Eric Hansen, "Outside of those top three, fourth through 12th could have gone to anyone on any given day, We knew she could be in the hunt for one of those top 10 spots. She ran absolutely incredible. She has had that in her for a long time, and she has been working her tail off all year long. I'm so proud she was able to go out and produce that kind of performance at this meet."
 
While she was happy with her own race, Esvelt was perhaps even more thrilled for what Ewing did.
 
"It was really cool to be right next to Maya and get pictures with our medals," she said.
 
Matise Mulch (16th), Madelyn Buckley (29th) and Anna Prussian (34th) rounded out SPU's top five.
 
"We had a great approach to the race," Hansen said. "People executed really well. You always look for one spot you could have picked up here or there, and we know these races usually come down to one or two points But we had some people who definitely had their best races – not just here, but some of them had the best races of their career."
 




DEMMERT LEADS THE WAY FOR SPU MEN
Sophomore Silas Demmert steadily moved up the pack and finished at the front of the Seattle Pacific pack in 42nd place in the 8-kilometer men's race.
 
The Falcons totaled 248 points for eighth in the team standings.
 
Demmert stopped the watch in 26 minutes, 10.8 seconds.
 
Isaac Venable, who missed the regular season while dealing with a health matter made his season debut and was second for the Falcons, placing 48th in 26:28.4.
 
Nathaniel Gale (63rd), Jonathan Lieb (64th) and Nathan Korth (72nd) were the other Seattle Pacific scorers.
 
Western Washington easily won its third straight team title, finishing with 32 points. Northwest Nazarene was a distant second with 73. Jeret Gillingham of the Vikings won his first individual championship, running away from everyone in 24:18.3. Johan Corea was next in 24:29.5.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- In cross country, the tiebreaker is comparing the five scorers of the tied teams to see who won more of those individual battles. On Saturday, SPU won the Nos. 1 and 2 positions with Esvelt and Ewing, but Anchorage won Nos. 3, 4, and 5.
-- The last time the Falcon women finished with fewer than 100 points at conference was in 2019 when they were third with 64.
-- By finishing in the top 10, Esvelt and Ewing earned All-GNAC status.
 
UP NEXT
The SPU women will head to Billings, Montana on Nov. 9 for the NCAA Division II West Regionals. The starting gun for that race in Amend Park starts at 10:15 a.m. Pacific time. The men's season is complete, and they now will turn their focus to indoor track.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
GNAC Championships
Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024
6 kilometers at Sudden Valley Golf & Country Club / Bellingham, Wash.
 
Team scores – 1, Western Washington 48; 2, Alaska Fairbanks 74; 3, Alaska Anchorage 80; 4, Seattle Pacific 80 (Anchorage gets higher place on tiebreaker); 5, Simon Fraser 75; 6, Western Oregon 162; 7, Central Washington 180; 8, Northwest Nazarene 208; 9, Montana State Billings 279; 10, Saint Martin's 314.
 
Top 5 – 1, Kendall Kramer (UAF) 20:32.3; 2, Rosie Fordham (UAF) 20:54.3; 3, Annika Esvelt (SPU) 21:02.3; 4, Maya Ewing (SPU) 21:43.3; 5, Nell Baker (UAA) 21:45.9.
 
Other SPU – 16, Matise Mulch 22:22.7; 29, Madelyn Buckley 22:59.0; 34, Anna Prussian 23:12.6; 45, Katelyn Flolo 23:44.0; 49, Alexa Gossett 23:49.6; 58, Nicole Pierce 24:12.8; 62, Ella Milanovich 24:21.4; 70, Nicki Yorges 24:40.2;
 
 
NCAA MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
GNAC Championships
Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024
8 kilometers at Sudden Valley Golf & Country Club
 
Team scores – 1, Western Washington 32; 2, Northwest Nazarene 73; 3, Alaska Anchorage 86; 4, Western Oregon 95; 5, Central Washington 95 (WOU gets higher place on tiebreaker); 6, Simon Fraser 153; 7, Alaska Fairbanks 196; 8, Seattle Pacific 248; 9, Saint Martin's 257; Montana State Billings incomplete team.
 
Top 5 – 1, Jeret Gillingham (WWU) 24:18.3; 2, Johan Correa (CWU) 24:29.5; 3, Ramon Rodriguez (CWU) 24:32.9; 4, Ryan Clough (WWU) 24:36.4; 5, John Peckham (UAA) 24:40.0.
 
SPU – 42, Silas Demmert 26:10.8; 48, Isaac Venable 26:28.4; 63, Nathaniel Gale 27:23.3; 64, Jonathan Lieb 27:25.1; 72, Nathan Korth 28:03.0; 77, Ben Sheirbon 29:02.6; 79, Ethan Erickson 29:56.2.
 

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