NOTES: For the first time in program history, both the men’s and women’s teams are the favorites to win the titles at the GNAC Championships ... the fourth-ranked UAA women’s team will be aiming for its second back-to-back title after winning the program’s first in 2009, while the No. 8 men’s team will aim for its fifth championship and first since 2008 ... UAA will not have the titles handed to them, as both the men’s (No. 11) and women’s (No. 8) teams of Western Washington will give the Seawolves trouble ... WWU’s women’s team is led by Sarah Porter, who is the favorite to win the individual title, while the Vikings’ men’s team is led by seniors Bennett Grimes, Jordan Welling and Blake Medhaug ... the trio will try to stop UAA senior Marko Cheseto from becoming the first male to win three consecutive conference individual titles ... Cheseto, who owns the course record with a time of 24:30.27 (2008), is already the only male athlete in GNAC meet history to win more than one individual conference title ... Cheseto, who is unbeaten this season, is looking for his 10th career victory, the second-most in GNAC history among male athletes ... Cheseto will have help by all-conference members sophomores Micah Chelimo (2009) and Jake Parisien (2008) ... for the UAA women, junior Ruth Keino and sophomore Miriam Kipng’eno will challenge Porter for the title ... Keino will be striving for her third all-conference performance (2008-09), while Kipng’eno will look for her second (2009) ... other returning all-conference members are senior Hallidie Wilt and junior Shoshana Keegan.
USTFCCCA POLL: The UAA men’s cross country team advanced one position to No. 8 in the latest U.S. Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association national poll released on Oct. 27, while the women’s team maintained its No. 4 ranking for the fourth straight week ... the UAA men’s team made its jump after winning the 10K race at the 37th annual Western Washington Cross Country Classic on Oct. 23 in Bellingham ... UAA leads the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and trails No. 4 Chico State in the West Region ... the Seawolves have continuously advanced in the polls all season after starting at No. 16 in the preseason poll on Aug. 25 ... from there they spent two weeks at No. 15, followed by a three-week stint at No. 9 ... on the women’s side, UAA started the season ranked No. 3 for three weeks before falling to No. 4 on Oct. 6 ... the Seawolves, who lead both the GNAC and West Region, follow Adams State (No. 1), Grand Valley State (No. 2) and Shippensburg (No. 3), while Chico State nips at their heels at No. 5 ... the next national ranking will be released on Wednesday, Nov. 3 ... see complete poll on page 2.
GNAC ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Senior Marko Cheseto received his third Great Northwest Athletic Conference Runner of the Week honor of the season for a first-place finish at the 37th annual Western Washington Classic on Oct. 23 ... Cheseto, from Kapenguria, Kenya, remained undefeated after winning the men’s 10K with a course-record time of 30 minutes, 41.1 seconds – his fourth win this season ... Cheseto was first out of 121 individuals and led the nationally 9th-ranked Seawolves to their third team victory this year ... Cheseto also received the weekly honor on Sept. 7 and Oct. 4 ... UAA’s Miriam Kipeng’eno (Oct. 4) and junior Ruth Keino (Sept. 13) have also received a GNAC weekly honor this season.
WESTERN WASHINGTON RECAP: The UAA cross country teams swept both races at the 37th annual Western Washington Cross Country Classic on Oct. 23, paced by an individual win and new course record by senior Marko Cheseto ... the UAA men posted 33 points, while the women placed all 5 scorers in the top 15 for 42 points ... Cheseto, who is undefeated this season, recorded a time of 30:41.1 ... sophomore Micah Chelimo was second with a time of 31:15.5 – his third second-place finish of the season ... sophomore Jake Parisien was 9th, followed by senior Paul Rottich (10th) and freshman Yonatan Yilma (11th) ... the women were paced by sophomore Miriam Kipng’eno (21:10.2) and junior Ruth Keino (21:13.9), who finished second and third respectively ... junior Shoshana Keegas was 9th, followed by freshman Ivy O’Guinn (13th) and senior Hallidie Wilt (15th).
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