The Evergreen State College senior Alauna Carstens won her second consecutive Cascade Collegiate Conference individual title in cross country as she took first place in the women’s 6-kilometer race on Friday, Nov. 6.
Carstens also won the CCC individual title in 2025.
This year’s championship meet was held at the LC state cross country trail. The Geoducks placed seventh in the women’s team standings and took ninth place in the men’s team standings.
Carstens won the 2026 championship with a time of 20:46.2. She set the CCC championship record for the second year in a row.
“Another epic job by Alauna. Congrats champ!” Evergreen head cross country and track and field coach Joel Pearson said in a release.
Senior Max Baeder from Evergreen placed 14th in the men’s 8-kilometer race. He completed the course in 24:50.7.
“I am extremely proud of Max on his performance,” Pearson commented. “He’s been really sick the last week and did a remarkable job keeping his composure together, working on his health, and performing well to qualify for nationals.”
Carstens and Baeder earned All-CCC honors and qualified for the 2026 NAIA Cross Country Championships, set for Saturday, Nov. 20 at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site near Vancouver.
It was the third time for Carstens to claim All-CCC cross country recognition (fourth in 2023, first in 2025 and first in 2026), and it was the second time for Baeder (15th in 2025 and 14th in 2026).
It will be Carstens’ third trip to the NAIA Championships in cross country. She earned All-American honors by placing 15th in 2023 and finishing fourth in 2025. Baeder previously completed at the NAIA Championships in cross country in 2025.
“Alauna and Max each ran their races so well,” Evergreen assistant cross country and track and field coach Katie Burnett said. “Max really impressed with his last kilometer, moving up well into national-qualifying position, earning his second All-Conference honor. Alauna dropped the field in the first hundred meters and easily surpassed her previous conference championship record time.”
At this year’s CCC Championships, Carstens won by 26.2 seconds over Southern Oregon’s Alyssa Johnson, who took second place in 21:12.7.
Joining Carstens as scorers for the Evergreen women’s team were junior Dani Buttrell (27th at 23:02.3), senior Madison Palek (41st at 23:48.76), sophomore Sylvie Biesack (62nd at 24:58.5) and junior Soleil Bianchi (72nd at 25:45.9)
Also running for the Evergreen women’s team were Sherlyn Perales in 26:31.7, Mercedies Dupont in 27:16.4, and Haley Huber in 28:04.1.
Following Baeder, other Geoducks who contributed to Evergreen’s team score in the men’s competition were senior Josh Beam, senior Jackson Rye, senior Liam Kaperick and senior Jaydon Blackburn. Beam placed 42nd in 25:47.1, and Rye was 45th in 25:52.7. Kaperick took 72nd place at 26:52.8, while Blackburn was 81st at 27:23.2.
Additional runners for Evergreen in the men’s race were senior Evan Williams in 27:24.5, sophomore Nathaniel Sanchez in 27:37.8, senior Will Niskanen in 29:02.9, freshman Austin Sturza in 30:58.2, and senior Stan Johnson in 34:27.8.
