The Redhawks pulled away with a fourth-place finish for both the men’s and women’s teams at the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Cross Country Championships this past weekend. The meet was held at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM.

The Redhawks had strong individual finishes as senior Matt Seidel set the pace on the men’s side, securing a seventh-place finish in the men’s 8K race with a time of 24:33. This allowed Seidel to grab First Team All-WAC honors, along with a 30- second personal best time.

Junior Eli Boudouris placed 24th in the WAC with a time of 25:15. Senior Jacques Herbert followed close behind him as he secured the 26th spot with a time of 25:22. Freshman Lance Slichko clocked in a time of 25:45. Senior Tyler Flannery finished right after Slichko in 25:46. Sophomore Blake Delaney finished the day with a time of 25:48. Slichko, Flannery, and Delaney placed 33rd, 34th, and 35th respectively.

The women’s team also had some strong performances. Junior Olivia Stein led the way for Seattle U in the women’s 5K. Stein crossed the line in ninth place for a Second Team All-WAC finish with a time of 17:23. Senior Johanna Erickson finished not far behind, placing 14th and also earning a spot alongside Stein for Second Team All-WAC honors with a close time of 17:38.

Freshman Megan Delorey secured a top 30 spot as she placed 24th, timing in at 18:11. Rachel Katama, another freshman, finished 28th with a time of 18:20. Sophomore Shannan Higgins ran 19:03 and freshman Elle Stein ran 19:16 as they grabbed 41st and 45th finishes.

Erickson, the Second Team All- WAC senior expresses, “As a team, I think we’re having a good building year. I think our place wasn’t what we all wanted, but there was some tough competition along with being in high altitude. But I think overall we did really well for where we’re at.”

Head coach Kelly Sullivan was satisfied with the results, but would have liked to see his team finish a little better.

“We did pretty well as a team. I think we would have liked to do a little better on both sides. The poll had the men ranked in at 5th, and they ended up 4th so that was good,” he said. “But the expectations are always to do a little bit better.”

Since taking over as the head coach this year, this was Sullivan’s first experience at a WAC championship meet. “It was good for me to get a good idea of what the conference is like, it’s pretty competitive. We have got some work to do,” Sullivan said.“I think we can be a little bit more confident going into [Western Regionals], we’re really young.”

The Redhawks XC team is back in Seattle on Nov. 10 as they take on the NCAA West Regional meet at Jefferson Park.

Caylah may be reached at
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