MONMOUTH, Ore. – While some of the Western Oregon University cross country runners were able to participate in the outdoor track season, the upcoming fall season will be the first for the WOU men's and women's cross country teams since hosting the NCAA Division II West Regional in November 2019.
WOU will once again host the NCAA Division II West Regional at Ash Creek Preserve for the 2021 season. WOU will also host the Ash Creek Invitational to start the fall and the Mike Johnson Classic a few weeks later. Road trips to Illinois to compete in the Lewis Crossover and to Portland for the Warner Pacific Meet will close the regular season. The GNAC Championships will take place in Washington hosted by Saint Martin's, before the NCAA West Regional at WOU at the beginning of November. The NCAA Championships will run in Tampa this year.
The Wolves open the fall with the annual Ash Creek Invitational on Sep. 10. During the 2019 season, the women placed second and the men placed 11th in the meet. Kaylin Cantu led the way for the Wolves coming in 11th. On the men's side, Bryce Mefford had the top finish for the Wolves coming in 27th. WOU began hosting the Ash Creek Invitational in 2013, as for a few years prior to that in 2008-09 the Wolves hosted the Summer's End Invitational that was right around the time of what is now hosted as the Ash Creek Invitational.
A few weeks after beginning the season, WOU will host the Mike Johnson Classic on Sep. 24. What was called the Sundowner during the 2019 year, WOU renamed this event in honor of longtime head coach Mike Johnson who retired at the end of the 2019-20 academic year. He spent 17 years with the Wolves, as he was part of 15 Great Northwest Athletic Conference indoor and outdoor track and field championships, along with leading the cross country team to numerous NCAA cross country championship appearances. During the 2019 run of this meet, both the men's and women's teams placed fifth at the Sundowner. Grace Knapp led the women coming in fifth. On the men's side, Justin Crosswhite came in with the top finish on the team of third. The 2019 running of the Sundowner was the first of the event for the Wolves, as the previous year in 2018 WOU traveled to San Francisco to compete in the SF State Invitational on that date.
As the calendar turns to October, WOU will travel to Illinois to compete in the Lewis Crossover on Oct. 9. While the Wolves didn't compete in this event during the 2019 season, they did travel the men's team in 2018 as they placed ninth. Tyler Jones led the way for the Wolves in that meet coming in 11th.
To close the regular season, WOU will travel just up the road to Portland to compete in the Warner Pacific Meet on Oct. 16. During the 2019 season, WOU also competed in this same meet. The Wolves sent a small squad to Warner Pacific that year, with Neal Cranston leading the way coming in 61st. Danel Camacho led the women coming in 58th. A total of three men and three women competed at the Warner Pacific Meet in 2019. It was a much different story in 2018, as WOU took more complete squads to Warner Pacific that year that resulted in the men coming in second and the women third. Dustin Nading won the individual title and Cantu finished 10th.
The GNAC Championships arrive on Oct. 23 and will take place in Washington hosted by Saint Martin's. WOU placed sixth in both the women's and men's races during a snowy 2019 GNAC Championships in Montana. It was a strong showing for both Crosswhite and Knapp. Crosswhite came in with a runner-up finish, while Knapp placed fifth. During the 2018 season when the GNAC Championships were hosted by WOU, the men placed fourth and the women came in seventh. The men are just a few years removed from winning the GNAC Championship that occurred during the 2017 season. WOU claimed the men's title that year that was hosted by Western Washington.
When November arrives, WOU will again be back home to host the NCAA Division II West Regional on Nov. 6. WOU also hosted the regional during the 2019 season. That year, the Wolves placed 13th on the men's side and 17th on the women's side. It was a strong race for Knapp as she placed sixth to advance to the NCAA Championships. Knapp was just under eight seconds from placing second. Andy Muha paced the Wolves in the men's race coming in 45th. He finished just four seconds from a top-40 finish and nine seconds from a top-35 result. Since 2014, WOU has hosted the NCAA Division II West Regional four times through the 2019 season.
The NCAA Championships will take place Nov. 23 that will take place in Tampa, Fla. During the 2019 season, Knapp competed as an individual at the NCAA Championships that took place in Sacramento, Calif., and she placed 59th. It was the highest finish for a women's runner at WOU in program history at the NCAA Championships since moving to the NCAA era. Knapp ended up placing 59th out of 260 total runners, steadily making her move throughout the race. After starting out 95th, she moved into the top-100 after the first 2.3K. Sitting 76th with just under 2K left, Knapp made another strong push getting to 66th at 5.1K before jumping the final seven spots to come in 59th.
WOU sent two runners to the 2018 NCAA Championships with Jones placing 60th and Nading 109th. During the 2017 season when the Wolves won the men's GNAC Championship and placed third at regionals, that team placed 21st at the NCAA Championships in Indiana. David Ribich earned All-American honors placing 30th.
2021 Fall Schedule
Date At Meet Location
Sep 10 (Fri) Home Ash Creek Invitational Monmouth, Ore. (Ash Creek Preserve)
Sep 11 (Sat) Home Ash Creek High School Monmouth, Ore. (Ash Creek Preserve)
Sep 24 (Fri) Home Mike Johnson Classic Monmouth, Ore. (Ash Creek Preserve)
Oct 9 (Sat) Away Lewis Crossover Romeoville, Ill.
Oct 16 (Sat) Away Warner Pacific Meet Portland, Ore.
Oct 23 (Sat) Away GNAC Championships Lacey, Wash.
Nov 6 (Sat) Home NCAA West Regionals Monmouth, Ore. (Ash Creek Preserve)
Nov 23 (Tue) Away NCAA National Championships Tampa, Fla.
