Men's Cross Country | 11/7/2025 3:45:00 PM

SALEM, Ore. — Isaac Acker ran his way into the Walla Walla Cross Country record books again with an 11th place finish at the 2025 Cascade Conference Championships on Friday.

Acker, who set the program record in the WSU Cougar Classic 8K event back in September, broke his own record by over 30 seconds to earn himself CCC All-Conference honors. The sophomore ran a time of 24 minutes and 56.6 seconds to narrowly beat out Darian Slack of Eastern Oregon by one-tenth of a second. 

The Salina, Kan., native will await word on if he qualified for the 2025 NAIA Cross Country Championship on Nov. 21 in Tallahasse, Fla. The qualified teams and runners will be announced at 2 p.m. PST on Tuesday. Acker would be the second runner in program history to earn a spot in the National Championship race if he qualifies, Spencer Glubay finished 48th in the event in 2019.

The top four finishers at the CCC Championship that are not part of a qualifying team (automatic or at-large), as long as they finish in the top-15, are automatically qualified for Nationals.

Ethan Heisler was the second Walla Walla runner to cross the line in 52nd place with a time of 26:40.8. Ryan Rosaasen finished in 61st place with a season best time of 27:01.6. Seth Huxel (93rd, 29:53.4), Jordan Butcher (94th, 29:53.9) and Adrian Vera Preas (97th, 31:26.0) all set personal records in the race.

The WWU men's team finished in 10th place out of 12 teams with a score of 263. No. 10 Eastern Oregon earned the automatic team bid from the conference with a team score of 71.

On the women's side, Olivia Kreitner set a personal record in the 6K with a time of 24:38.4 and finished in 46th place. Kreitner beat out Julia Fowler for second-best all-time in program history by two seconds with the result.

Jodi Adams crossed the line in 69th place with a time of 25:47.9 to set a new personal record. Megan Rowland took 77th with a time of 27:12.8. Maddie Ruiz set a personal record in her final race with Walla Walla with a time of 28:05.5 to finish in 83rd and her teammate Sasha Vaughan crossed the line right behind her with a time of 28:12.6.

Anna Shimolina finished the race in 91st place with a time of 29:00.5, Danika Larson crossed in 96th with a time of 30:50.8 and Schylan Safotu ran a 31:13.6. 

The WWU women's team finished with a team score of 311 in 11th place. No. 5 College of Idaho ran away with the conference championship with a team score of 39.

UP NEXT

Isaac Acker will find out his fate on Tuesday when the NAIA National Championship racers are announced.

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