MONMOUTH — Not all of the Southern Oregon men's and women's cross country teams' top runners were on display, but their depth was Friday at Western Oregon's Ash Creek Invitational.
The second-ranked Raider men had nine of the meet's top 15 runners to collect their first team title of the season, and the 16th-ranked Raider women put three in the top 10 to place second at the four-team meet.
Making his season debut, junior Eric Ghelfi finished second overall by completing the 5,900-meter course at the Ash Creek Preserve in 18 minutes, 40 seconds. Trevor Lynn (18:56) and Zach Boyd-Helm (18:59) were right behind him in third and fourth.
Cary Dunagan placed sixth in 19:14 and Kevin Jorgensen (19:29) was ninth. Jace Hinesly, Cody Carter, Matt Battaglia and Dylan Paulk each finished within 12 seconds of each other to squeeze into the 11th-15th spots.
The Raiders' average time of 19:03 was 13 seconds better than second-place Western Oregon's.
Freshman Aspen Abbott, also making her season debut, paced the Raider women with a sixth-place showing in 16:19 on a 4,200-meter course. Luisa Westley (16:33) and Jessie Rozario (16:34) were impressive for the seconds straight weekend in taking eighth and ninth.
"The course was very challenging but the weather and competition were great," SOU coach Grier Gatlin said. "We were pretty happy with how it went."
Western Oregon claimed both of the individual titles. Brady Beagley edged Ghelfi by five seconds and Annie Wade's 15:22 cleared second place by 36 seconds.
SOU has a couple weeks to prepare for the Stanford Invitational, which will be held on Sept. 28 in Palo Alto, Calif.
COMPLETE SOU RESULTS
MEN (5.9k)
2. Eric Ghelfi, 18:40.00
3. Trevor Lynn, 18:56.00
4. Zach Boyd-Helm, 18:59.00
6. Cary Dunagan, 19:14.00
9. Kevin Jorgensen, 19:29.00
11. Jace Hinesly, 19:33.00
12. Cody Carter, 19:36.00
T-13. Matt Battaglia, 19:38.00
15. Dylan Paulk, 19:45.00
28. Matt Williams, 20:46.00
31. Chase Bussing, 21:11.00
Team Scores (average time) — Southern Oregon 23 (19:03), Western Oregon 38 (19:16), Mt. Hood C.C. 79 (20:33), Warner Pacific 118 (23:26).
WOMEN (4.2k)
6. Aspen Abbott, 16:19.00
8. Luisa Westley, 16:33.00
9. Jessie Rozario, 16:34.00
16. Kattarina Korpela, 17:12.00
19. Tanya Jones, 17:24.00
28. Emily Lamb, 18:34.00
33. Angie Meza, 19:26.00
36. Alex Schroeder, 20:59.00
Team Scores (average time) — Western Oregon 18 (16:03), Southern Oregon 47 (16:48), Mt. Hood C.C. 84 (18:34), Warner Pacific 87 (18:52).