Wildcats Journey to Billings for GNAC Championships

ELLENSBURG, Wash.- The Central Washington University cross nation groups head to Billings, Montana to compete within the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday, October 25. The meet kicks off with the ladies’s 6K race at 9:00 a.m. PST, adopted by the lads’s 8K race at 10:00 a.m. PST.
 
MEET INFO
Date: Saturday, October 25, 2025
Location: Amend Park – Billings, Montana
Women’s Race: 9:00 a.m. PST – 6,000 meters
Men’s Race: 10:00 a.m. PST – 8,00 meters
Championships Home Page: 2025 GNAC Cross Country Championships – Great Northwest Athletic Conference
Competitors: All 10 convention members will compete within the GNAC Championships.
 
QUOTING ASSISTANT COACH MATT LAYTEN
“I’m excited for our group this weekend. We spend the entire season working on “our course of” in how to train, prepare, and execute everything that we need to do to thrive in championship-level moments. Our squad wants to be really good at this, and they don’t just “discuss the discuss”, but they “stroll the stroll” in how they go about making that a reality every day. They have upheld our “Central Washington commonplace” for how we do things throughout this season, so I feel good about us continuing that on into the postseason.”
 
LAST TIME OUT
Central Washington University cross nation continued to impress with strong performances at each the Bill Dellinger Invitational and the Emerald City Open. The Wildcats males’s crew secured a Tenth-place end, whereas the ladies’s crew positioned eleventh on the Dellinger meet. The CWU girls adopted up with a standout efficiency on the Emerald City Open, incomes third place general.

On the lads’s facet, Luke Hurd led the Wildcats with a Fifty fifth-place end, working a season-best 25:07.54. Kellen McIlnelly adopted in 62nd (25:22.10), whereas Charles Naught and Dima Serafimovici completed back-to-back in 78th and 79th with instances of 25:58.00 and 26:06.88. Max Hutton additionally posted a season greatest, putting 81st in 26:13.81. Ares Van Straaten (26:25.91) and Ethan Moore (26:32.52) rounded out the lineup in 83rd and 84th.

For the ladies, Maddy Harrison paced CWU with a personal-best 21:54.33, good for 58th general. Payton Conover adopted in 73rd (22:17.43), with Lillian Neff (88th, 22:47.21), Hannah Pidduck (94th, 22:55.37), and Araceli Esquivel (ninety fifth, 23:00.57) shut behind. Katie Manly (96th, 23:10.18) and Julie Johnson (one centesimal, 23:39.43) rounded out CWU’s top-100 finishers.

The Wildcat girls continued their robust kind in Seattle, claiming third place as a crew. Camryn Holterhoff led the best way with a Thirteenth-place end (24:34.90), simply forward of Paige Huntsinger in 14th (24:43.55). Lexi Titchenal (sixteenth, 25:07.63) and Dawn Hulstedt (seventeenth, 25:13.36) saved CWU’s prime pack tight. Xitlalli Salinas-Lopez (twenty fourth, 26:08.72) and Brynne Williams (twenty ninth, 27:11.59) each secured top-30 finishes, whereas Jessica Henry (thirty fourth, 27:37.79) and Natalie Barta (forty second, 29:45.09) rounded out the squad’s scoring effort.