Several former Port Townsend High School cross country athletes have continued to pursue their sport collegiately and have just concluded their seasons.

Aliyah Cassidy Yearian, a freshman at Santa Clara University, has been competing for the Broncos. She was able to post a 6K personal record (PR) of 22:26 at the Bronco Invitational on Oct. 19, prior to prematurely ending her season due to a potential stress reaction in her hip. Sophomore Sebastian Manza, attending Grinnell College, ran his best race of the season at the Midwest Conference XC Championships where he posted a time of 27:02 on an 8K course. Manza then competed in the NCAA DIII Midwest Region Championships on Nov. 16 as the seventh runner for the Pioneers, which placed 17th out of 31 teams.

Haverford College (HC) senior Seamus Fraser also competed in his Centennial Conference Championships, placing 12th overall on the 8K course in a time of 26:05, taking All Conference Second Team Award. He helped Haverford to a second place finish behind Johns Hopkins. Fraser then competed in the NCAA DIII Metro Championships on Nov. 16 where he had a PR of 25:29 for 18th place. Unfortunately, for the first time in 30 years the Haverford Goats did not secure a berth to the DIII National Championships as they took third to Moravian and Rowan.

On Friday, Nov. 22, Fiona Fraser, a freshman at Southern Oregon University, competed with her team at the NAIA Cross Country National Championships in Columbia, Missouri at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course.

The team qualified for Nationals when their top three runners placed second, fifth and seventh — Fraser in fifth — on Nov. 8 in their Conference Championships at the Rose City Golf Course in Portland. All three were awarded all-conference status with their performances and the Raiders tied for second with Lewis-Clark State College behind College of Idaho, securing an at-large berth to move on to Nationals. Fraser covered the 6K course in 22:40, but her PR for the season was set on Oct. 19 at the Linfield George Oja Invitational. There she ran a 21:31 and was awarded NAIA Athlete of the Week as a result. 

NAIA XC Nationals 6K course was two loops on rolling grass. Conditions at race time were overcast and cold with the temperature reading 35 degrees. At 1K, Fraser was in 130th place in the field of 327 athletes, but worked her way up through the field to finish in 33rd place overall in a time of 21:43. She was the fourth freshman overall and also took All American standing, which is awarded to the top 40 finishers. Fraser’s performance helped the Raiders take a 16th place team finish out of 35 teams. 

Fraser was satisfied with her performance and is now looking forward to transitioning to a winter training period that has her weekly target mileage in the 70s. Manza and Seamus Fraser will be competing in the indoor track season while Yearian and Fiona Fraser most likely won’t compete until the outdoor spring track season. 

Alice Fraser is the head cross country coach and assistant track and field coach for the East Jefferson Rivals.