Region Champions!

Maple Valley, WA - The 2025 NWAC North-West Region Championship Meet turned out to be a day for the Trojans as they would sweep the competition winning the men's team race, the women's team race, and individual champions also both coming from EvCC.  Last season it was the Gators from Green River College who earned that honor, but this year as the hosts of the region championship at Lake Wilderness State Park, the torch would be passed on to Everett.  It was the first time since 2018 that the men had an individual champion and a team championship in the regionals, as well as a total program sweep winning both team championships and having individual champions both from Everett.

In the men's 8k, freshman Kenenisa Udo had been one of the top runners in the NWAC all season long, but he was expected to be challenged by two Green River sophomores for the top spot.  Udo was able to hold on to the top spot, beating out Samuel Grice by 16 seconds.  While Udo might have been the favorite to win the race, Green River had the higher team ranking and after taking the 2nd and 3rd place spots, it looked as though they might be able to edge out the team crown.  Hector Mendoza and Charlie Roberts had solid performances, coming within seconds of 4th place and finishing ahead of the next GRC runner, tying the race at 12 points.  Another pair of freshman, Isaac Pratt and Luke Taylor finished inside the top 10, rounding out the team points at 29 and edging Green River by five points.  Olympic College would take 3rd and Edmonds did not have enough runners to post a team score.  

In the women's 6k, the Trojans were heavily favored to win both the individual champion and the team championship.  The only uncertainty would be who from EvCC the top runner would be.  For most of the season Lily Rock had been the top finisher, but in the last race at the Luke Oja Invitational, sophomore Teagan Pentz finished 6 seconds faster.  For much of the race, Everett controlled the front of the pack, led by Rock and Pentz.  In the end, Rock would out-kick Pentz to finish less than a second ahead of her teammate to take the individual crown.  Reda Long would be the next to cross the finish line, giving Everett a clean sweep of the top three medalists.  The Trojans placed their next two scoring runners (Taya Kilgore & Heidi McKinley) 6th and 8th respectively to dominate the team scoring with 19 points.  Green River took 2nd with 42 points and both Olympic and Edmonds did not have enough runners to post a team score.  

At the post race awards ceremony, both EvCC teams were awarded with the team trophy.  For the Trojan men, Kenenisa Udo received his first place medal and was named first team all region along with teammates Hector Mendoza and Charlie Roberts were also named First Team All Region.  Isaac Pratt, Luke Taylor, and William Pyeatt were named Second Team All Region.  

For Everett's women, Lily Rock, Teagan Pentz, and Reda Long were the medalists (in that order) and were all three named First Team All Region in addition to Taya Kilgore on the first team.   Heidi McKinley, Ariel Rodriguez-Garcia, Halle McClain, and Amelia Koon were all named Second Team All Region, and head coach Rachel Cundy was named the women's northwest regional coach of the year.  

With two weeks remaining until the NWAC Championships, the Trojans are shaping up to have very strong performances for the season finale in Spokane.  The women will be led by Pentz and Rock, with expected support from Long, Kilgore, and the rest of the squad with an opportunity to place inside the top 3 for the first time since 2016.  The men will be led by Kenny Udo who will be looking for an All-American type performance and potentially cracking to top 3 list of individual competitors and Roberts will push for a spot in the Top 25.  The team will battle it out once again with Green River for a spot inside the top 5 team scores, a place they have not been since the 2014 season.  

The NWAC Championship meet will take place on November 10th at The Course in Spokane.