FULL RESULTS - GNAC CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

BELLINGHAM, Wash. -  Western Oregon men's cross country finished fourth as a team led by all-conference performances from junior David Ribich and sophomore Dustin Nading while senior Kennedy Rufener paced the women to a ninth place finish at the 2016 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships at Lake Padden on Saturday morning.
 
The men's team was paced by Ribich's 8,000-meter time of 25:23.4, a 5:06 pace, to finish in fifth place. Nading cracked the top 10 with a time of 25:40.7 to earn Newcomer of the Year honors after posting the fastest time in the race of any non-freshman.
 
Freshman Justin Crosswhite crossed the line in 25^th place with a time of 26:18 and sophomore Tyler Jones ran the race in 26:27 to place 34^th. Rounding out the WOU scoring quintet was senior Josh Dempsey placing 36^th with a time of 26:31.
 
Also finishing the race for WOU but not scoring points were Hunter Mosman (60^th, 27:15), Alan Ekanger (T-61^st, 27:18), Sawyer Heckard (T-61^st,27:18), Michael Chin (79^th, 28:02), and Steven Fey (83^rd, 28:37)
 
Alaska Anchorage placed three in the top four to win the men's team title, followed by Simon Fraser and host Western Washington. Edwin Kangogo out-dueled teammate Michel Ramirez for the individual championship.
 
The Western Oregon women were led by Rufener's time of 22:41.3 in the 6,000-meter race to place17th overall. Sophomore Grace Knapp came in two spots behind Rufener with a time of 22:54.4.  Junior Suzanne Van De Grift was the third WOU scorer with a 36^th place finish at 23:27. The final two scoring positions went to freshman Virginia Link in 72^nd place at 25:16 and senior Amanda Ditzhazy in 74^th place at 25:17.
 
Just out of the scoring was sophomore Olivia Woods in 75^th place (25:23). Finishing the race for WOU was redshirt freshman Antoinette Gowen (81^st, 25:40), sophomore Megan Rose (82^nd, 25:45), and freshman Grayson Burke (86^th, 26:21).
 
Alaska Anchorage won a close battle with Simon Fraser for the GNAC team title. UAA's Caroline Kurgat edged Saint Martin's Shannon Porter and Simon Fraser's Rebecca Bassett to win the individual championship.
 
With the GNAC Championships behind them, Western Oregon moves on to the NCAA Division II West Regional Championships, hosted by Montana State Billings on November 5 in Billings, Mont.