Anchorage, AK - The Saints XC teams return home with some well-earned success at the GNAC Championships host by Alaska Anchorage on Saturday, October 21st.

SMU made their way through the meet placing overall 2nd in the women's 6k and 7th overall in the men's 8k.

The Saints women's team had high marks with four top ten finishers resulting in them receiving All-GNAC Honors, this was the most top ten finisher from a single team in the race. SMU's men's team also had a top ten finisher who also received All-GNAC Honors in Isaac Cortes. This set a new mark for SMU with five All-GNAC Honors. Coach Matt Lowe was very pleased with his team's performance and had this to say "Today is especially remarkable because they made program history with having five individuals earning All-GNAC honors by placing in the top 10 against a very competitive field. To recap our women's race, we achieved another runner-up finish. Although we came up short of a team title, they went out and executed the plan with precision and gave everything they could. We scored 71 points (the lowest score at a GNAC championship) with the team avg of 22:01, had 4 PRs and 4 All-GNAC honors. I'm very proud of their incredible performances."

SMU women's team placed 2nd overall out of the 10 GNAC teams. SMU had four PR's for the women's team, they had an average time of 22:01.7 with a spread if 2:21.5. The 6k runners included Cassidy Walchak-Sloan with a time of 21:20.0, she came in sixth for the Saints. Placing eighth for SMU Alisha Saucedo with a time 21:40.7. The next two Saints who crossed the finish line were Sara Sabra with a time of 21:42.1 and Elke Wijkmans her time being 21:43.8, they placed ninth and tenth overall. The final two runners for the Saints were Kya Ramirez (23:41.5) and Naomi Hartley (24:42.4).

SMU men's team placed overall 7th out of 10 teams in the 8k race. The Saints had an average time of 26:51.5 with a spread of 2:31.2. The first finisher for SMU was Isaac Cortes with a time of 25:16.9 he placed eighth, receiving All-GNAC Honors. The next Saint in was Kainalu Pagente with a time of 26:38.0. The next three runners in for SMU were Eli Dale (27:07.2), Michael Harwell (27:27.0), and Timmy Higgins (27:48.1). The final two runners that brought SMU to a finish were Noe Ortega (28:32.6), and Jaskaran Dhatt (29:09.2).

The Saints will take some a to recover and prepare for the NCAA West Region Championships will be held on November 4th, 2023, in Monmouth Oregon.