LACEY, Wash. – Miguel Villar put together an impressive run on Saturday to help power the Western Oregon University men's cross country team to a third-place finish at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships. Villar came in 10th to earn All-GNAC honors and was also the top newcomer to finish to collect Newcomer of the Year accolades.
"When it all comes down to it, they came ready to perform. They established themselves early in the races and ready to compete. It's a good setup for us going into regionals," head coach Octavious Gillespie-Bennett said. "It will be a nice confidence booster for us over the next few weeks. I'm really proud of the way they performed and handled themselves. Coach Zach Holloway did an amazing job with them and preparing them."
While Villar led the pack, the Wolves had a big contingency right behind. A pair of fellow transfers followed Villar across the line with Keanu Daos in 11th and Bailey Smith in 17th. Timothy Rambo added a 23rd-place finish and Emmett Klus was the fifth one across for the Wolves in 37th. With those results, WOU tallied 96 points to come in third, holding off Alaska Anchorage in fourth with 107 points. Simon Fraser won the title with 50 points to edge Western Washington's 55 points. Simon Fraser's Aaron Ahl won the individual title coming in with a time of 24:21.80.
"This team is filled with a lot of talent, passion and drive. I'm really excited for the direction we're going as a unit. Hoping to regroup, and give our best performances at regionals," Villar said.
Other results for the Wolves included Cedar Davis-Frankfort who was close to a top-40 finish coming in 44th. Dustyn Mckenney came in 50th, Easton Pomrankey in 56th and Jaden McCabe in 63rd.
Villar ran to a time of 24:51.70, with Daos just a few seconds back crossing at 24:55.70. Smith was close to a top-15 finish before coming in with a time of 25:03.20. Rambo gave the Wolves four in the top-25 when he came in with a time of 25:27.60. Klus' time of 26:06.00 rounded out the top-five finishers for the Wolves to keep them under 100 points and safely in third overall.
Davis-Frankfort collected a time of 26:26.20 and Mckenney wasn't far behind with a time of 26:42.70. Pomrankey crossed at 27:02.30 and McCabe at 27:19.00 to round out the results for the Wolves.
There were 10 total teams competing in the men's field, as Northwest Nazarene rounded out the top-five posting 150 points. Central Washington came in sixth with 165 points, Montana State Billings in seventh with 168 points, Saint Martin's in eighth with 190 points, Alaska Fairbanks in ninth with 224 points and Seattle Pacific in 10th with 228 points.
WOU came in sixth during the 2019 GNAC Championships in Billings and placed fourth in 2018 on Ash Creek Preserve. This year's result is the best for the Wolves since winning the conference title in 2017 that was also held in Washington and took place in Bellingham.
The calendar will now turn to November and the NCAA Division II West Regionals will be approaching as the Wolves will host this year's regionals on Nov. 6 on Ash Creek Preserve with the women's race starting at 10 a.m. and the men's to follow around 11:15 a.m.
Villar Collects Pair Of GNAC Honors To Lead Wolves' Third-Place Result - WOU Athletics
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