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Nov. 12, 2009

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - With most of their runners having championship experience, the Western Washington University men's and women's cross country teams are looking to post their best-ever finishes at the NCAA Division II National Championships on Saturday, Nov. 21.

In all, there will be 368 runners, 134 men and 134 women, competing at Evansville, Ind., on a course at host University of Southern Indiana. The women's 6-kilometer race begins at noon Central time followed by the men's 10-kilometer run at 1 p.m. Central time.

With a total of four All-Americans and coming off solid performances at the West Region and Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships, each squad wants to better its 10th-place finish at nationals last year, their best to date at the NCAA meet.

"I would be very happy if we could beat our finishes of last year," said Western coach Pee Wee Halsell (23rd year). "The men are very capable of being in the top five, but they need to run better than they did at regionals.

"If the women hold together and all of them have good races, we could finish in the top eight which would give our region another entry at nationals next year."

It will be the fourth trip to the NCAA nationals for the Western men, who were 11th in 2007 and 13th in 2003, and it is the second for the Viking women, who made their inaugural appearance in 2008, finishing an astounding 14 spots higher than their national ranking going in.

Two weeks ago at the West Regional, Western had the school's top combined performance, the men placing second, tying their best finish, and the women placing fourth.

"It's been a fun year to have two squads not just thinking about going to nationals, but having that championship attitude of doing well there," Halsell said.

The Viking men are ranked sixth nationally and the women 11th in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association/NCAA Division II Top 25 Poll.

The Western men are led by the foursome of Bennett Grimes (Jr., Pocatello, ID/Century), Blake Medhaug (Jr., Bothell), Anthony Tomsich (Sr., Fairbanks, AK/West Valley) and Jordan Welling (Jr., Burlington/Burlington-Edison).

Grimes has earned All-America honors the last two years, placing 41st at nationals in 2008 and 43rd in 2007. Welling and Medhaug also were All-Americans last fall, finishing 29th and 36th, respectively.

All four placed among the top 10 in helping the Vikings to the GNAC championship, and Grimes, Tomsich and Welling were region all-stars with top 15 finishes. It was the third all-region honor for Grimes and the second for Welling.

Grimes, Medhaug and Welling are also three-time GNAC all-stars.

"They really feed off of each other's success," said Halsell of the quartet. "They're all about team."

Rounding out the squad are Yonas Berhe (So., Seattle/Roosevelt), Eric Brill (So., Kent/Kentwood) and Greg Kubitz (Sr., Kelso). It is the second trip to nationals for Berhe and Brill.

Leading the Western women is All-American Sarah Porter (Jr., Hockinson), who placed 13th last year at nationals. She is a three-time all-conference and all-region performer, placing second in both championship meets this fall.

As a freshman, Porter finished 45th at nationals.

"If she runs a smart race with the right tactics anything could happen," Halsell said. "This course is very suited to her."

The Vikings' Lauren Breihof (So., Vancouver/Mountain View) also was a region all-star, placing 12th.

Completing Western's contingent are Sierra Brisky (So., Acme/Mount Baker), Kirsten Moore (Fr., Carlsbad, CA), Courtney Olsen (Sr., Bellingham/Squalicum), Danielle Slaughter (Sr., Spokane/Shadle Park), and Emily Wallen (Fr., Olympia/Capital).

It is the third national junket for Porter, Olsen and Slaughter, and the second for Brisky.

"Porter, Breihof and Olsen have anchored our team," Halsell said. "We saw some movement with our four and five runners at regionals with Slaughter having a great race, and any of our 4-5-6-7 runners have the ability to move up. The big thing now is that as a team we have the attitude that we can do it."