TACOMA, Wash. -- The George Fox cross country team competed in the Northwest Conference Championships, sweeping both the men's and women's titles for the fifth straight season; the men finished with a score of 37 while the women ended with a 41.

Top Performances
In the Men's 8K, Senior Caden Hildenbrand was the top finisher for the Bruins, coming in third place, locking in a time of 25:40.7. Andrew Dewar came in fifth overall just a few seconds behind in 25:53.8. Due to the new NWC rules regarding All-Conference teams, the pair of Bruins finished as First Team All-NWC.

Kellen Ruiz was just a few seconds later in sixth with a solid 25:57.9 time to earn Second Team honors, with Nate Hamilton was the other second teamer, coming in just over 26 minutes at 26:10.3, 

Two more Bruins finished as All-NWC performers, making the newly-created Third Team; Westin Madden was 13th, with an overall time of 26:17.3, while Jacob Shin came in 15th place with a 26:18.0.

For the Women's 6K, Emily Foote continued to cruise, leading wire-to-wire and winning her first-ever collegiate meet with a time of 22:02.7, laying the groundwork for Fox.Hope Bridge also earned a First Team honor with a fifth place finish, crossing the finish line at 22:54.3. 

Sara Marino led the way for the next four Bruins, who all earned Third Team All-NWC honors; Marino placed 11th with a time of 23:13.0 Natalie Oathout, Reese Borchert, and Abbie Goodwin were next up — Oathout at 23:25.5, Borchert at 23:28.0, and Goodwin at 23:28.6 — finishing 13th, 14th, and 15th, respectively.

What It Means
Overall, the Bruins dominated, sweeping not only the championship, but nearly every award. Fox was 20 points ahead of their nearest competition on the women's side, and a whopping 40 on the men's — the Bruins were just nine points off of their 2024 mark on the men's side.

For her effort, Emily Foote was named NWC Runner of the Meet for the women, while Andrew Dewar and Sara Marino were named NWC Rookies of the Meet, finishing as the highest freshman on both the men's and women's sides. Mike Wilson was once again named NWC Coach of the Year on both sides thanks to the Bruins' fifth straight sweep. Cian Monaghan of UPS was the lone non-Bruin to pick up a major award, being named NWC Runner of the Meet for the men.

Coach's Thoughts
It was a really fun day," Bruin head coach Mike Wilson said, "This team is young, fun to be around, and knows how to show up and race well. We run like a group of upperclassmen as a predominately underclassmen-filled team. I'm really proud of how they competed and stepped up today. We have been battling illness going through the team and were down a few today, but where a few people were a little off, others were able to step up and show out. This group is going to be something to watch in the coming regional meet and past it!"

What Happens Next
The Bruins will make their way to Claremont, Calif. to compete in the NCAA West Regional on Saturday, November 15. The first meet of the day is scheduled to start at 9:00 am with the second at 10:00 am.