SPOKANE, Wash. -- The George Fox cross country team dominated both the men's and women's divisions at the NWC Conference Championship, sweeping the competition for the third consecutive year.

Top Performances
In the men's 8K race, Peter Weiss continued to impress in his return from injury, securing the individual conference title with a time of 24:42.5 to earn the 2023 NWC Men's Runner of the Year. Right on his heels was Alex Mills, who crossed the line in 24:45.2 to finish in second position. Mills and Weiss were two of the Bruins' 15 All-NWC performers — the top finishers 1-7 were named to the first team while 8-14 was the second team.

Junior Adam Petersen completed the race in 24:53.1 to take fourth place, while Andrew Ross and Gavin Grass finished in seventh and tenth respectively. Gabe Lachenmeier, Patrick Adkisson, and Aidan Arthur were also named to the second-team all-conference.

The men secured the first-place win with a team score of 24 points, with a spread of just 42 seconds amongst the point scorers that saw them beat out Lewis and Clark by an impressive 52 points. The score of 24 points was the lowest total Championship score by the Bruins in the NCAA era.

In the women's 6K competition, Fox finished a whopping 63 points ahead of Lewis and Clark, with five runners placing in the top ten to run away with the NWC championship for the third time in program history. The women also posted their second lowest NWC title score in program history, scoring just 29 points.

Kayla Aalpoel clocked in with another phenomenal time of 21:46.9 to secure second place individually, while Breanna Schmitt finished in 22:04.3 to take third, and Sarah Pullen recorded a time of 22:25.2, jumping up three places in the second half of the race to finish in sixth. 

Ellie Rising posted a time of 22:37.4 while Kendall McKibbon crossed the line in 22:45.1, both securing eighth and tenth place finishes to earn Second Team All-NWC. Joining them in the all-conference conversation was Jessie Bailey and Hope Bridge, who finished 11th and 13th overall, respectively.

Following the event, both Peter Weiss and Mike Wilson were honored by the Conference for their work in the season; Weiss became the second Bruin to win NWC Men's Runner of the Year, while Wilson swept the NWC Coach of the Year award for men's and women's cross country for the third consecutive season.

Coach's Thoughts
"Huge day overall," Bruin head coach Mike Wilson said, 'I am so pumped right now. Both teams showed up so well today."The men ran a phenomenal effort… From gun to finish, we showed up to race today! Peter, Alex, Adam, and Andrew led the way, and each one of them took a turn making a really big move to push the pace and open up the field. Peter and Alex really pressed What a redemptive day for Peter too. From injured on the sidelines last year to conference champion… so awesome! He's been a leader and a mentor to this group, and it's exciting to see him earn that conference crown. To have Alex and Adam right there with him... so cool. Those guys train together all the time. They've worked so hard and it's so rewarding to see their efforts pay off. The women were equally impressive! Kayla and Bree showed up huge for us up front, and we had a phenomenal day from Sarah, Ellie, Kendall, Jessie, and Hope as well! While the men won it up front, our mid-pack got it done for the women. Such a great day! I can't say enough about how much growth we have seen in this group over the past couple of years, and it's exciting to see them win their 3rd straight Conference Title together. We are excited and focused on what lies ahead! We are going to soak this one in and enjoy it for this weekend, and then we will be back to work to see what we can do on a regional and national level in the coming few weeks! So proud of this group today - how they represented George Fox themselves out there today."

Up Next
The Bruins will travel to Riverside, Calif. For the NCAA West Regional event on November 11th, they continue their pursuit of their second straight national championship appearance. The meet is scheduled to start at 9:00 a.m.