Competing in some of the wettest and windiest cross country conditions imaginable, the Simon Fraser University men’s and women’s cross country teams both finished third at the Western Washington Classic on Saturday.
Simon Fraser trailed only Alaska Anchorage among NCAA Div. 2 teams, competing against seven of the other schools that they will face two Saturdays from now (Oct. 22) on the same Lake Padden layout in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships.
On the women’s side, in what was essentially a preview of that upcoming meet, Alaska Anchorage won with 76 points. Simon Fraser was third with 101, 18th-ranked SPU was in fifth with 122, and host Western Washington (ranked 15th) was seventh with 159.
Much further back were Saint Martin’s (ninth with 242), Central Washington (11th with 247), Alaska Fairbanks (11th with 286), and Concordia (14th with 416).
Anchorage, Simon Fraser, Seattle Pacific, and Western have been regarded as the top four GNAC women’s title contenders from the start of the fall.
On the men’s side, Simon Fraser had 94 points and trailed Alaska Anchorage in second with 53 points. WWU was fourth with 98 and CWU was eighth with 225 points.
“I am very proud of how tough all of the kids were showing that they are very determined to achieve their goals this season,” said Clan coach Brit Townsend. “They showed grit and determination despite the rough conditions and the experience they had there will go a long way to preparing them for regionals as they attempt to secure spots to nationals.”
SFU senior Rebecca Bassett powered across the finish line in 12th place in the women’s six-kilometre course in 22:06, just in front of teammate Julia Howley, 13th in 22:15.9. Trinity Western’s Regan Yee was first in 21:24.9.
Rounding out the Top 5 for the Clan were Miryam Bassett (25th, 22:45), Addy Townsend (28th, 22:51.8), and Reta Dobie (31st, 22:58.2).
Among those behind Yee were Shannon Porter of Saint Martin’s (fifth in 21:47.8), and defending GNAC champion Joyce Chelimo of Anchorage (10th in 22:05.7), who was running in her first meet of the season.
On the men’s 10-kilometre course SFU’s Braeden Charlton was 12th in 31:58.7 closely followed by Rowan Doherty (17th, 32:18.2), Marc-Antoine Rouleau (18th, 32:20) and Sean Miller (19th, 32:21). The fifth runner for SFU was Mateo De Dalmases in 37th (32:59.6).
Herdman tops in tackles
Buried beneath another hard-luck loss for the SFU Clan football team was a pretty impressive record set by a Burnaby Mountain linebacker.
SFU’s Jordan Herdman established a new GNAC career record for tackles in a contest where Western Oregon prevailed 33-7 on Saturday.
Herdman, a senior from Winnipeg, carved his name in the GNAC record book with four solo tackles and five assists, breaking the all-time total tackles record of 385 set by Central Washington’s Buddy Wood, from 2005 to 2009.
Herdman now sits at 393 tackles, and is also the GNAC all-time leader in assisted tackles.
He’s a two-time defending GNAC Defensive Player of the Year.
