Lexi Mitzel led the way for Corban with an individual championship performance on Saturday, leading Corban to a team victory as well.
CLACKAMAS, Ore. – With senior Lexi Mitzel (Salem, Ore.) leading the way, the Corban University women's cross country team won the Mike Hodges Invitational on Saturday, winning by over three minutes on the 5k course. Mitzel paced the Warrior women with a first-place finish, winning the race by over 30 seconds amidst a competitive field of more than 60 runners and seven teams.
Full Results
"We really feel good about the women's race today as they put together a great team effort, said head coach Norm Berney. "The split between our No. 1 and No. 5 girls was just over a minute. We feel really good about how our team has come along, with two freshman in our top five and we are really excited moving forward."
As a team, Corban finished with 26 total points, 44 points better than the second-place finishing squad.
Mitzel won the race in a time of 18:30.1, while fellow senior Elizabeth Weber (Lacey, Wash.) uncorked a career-best time of 19:10.3, finishing in fourth overall for the Warriors.
Right behind her in sixth place was sophomore Kristen LaChapelle (Turner, Ore.) as she crossed the finish line in a career-best time of 19:21.0, while freshman standout Annabel Guptill (Salem, Ore.) continued to show improvement, clocking a career-best time of 19:28.8 to take eighth overall.
Rounding out Corban's scoring runners was freshman Hannah Clarizio (Molalla, Ore.), as Clarizio notched another career-best time for the Navy and Gold, taking 11th overall in the race with a mark of 19:39.8. Corban's top-five runners all finished within just over one minute of one another – a positive sign moving towards the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Championships which are just a few weeks away.
There were a pair of other solid performances from Corban as freshman Susannah Romero-Diaz (Milton-Freewater, Ore.) uncorked a career-best mark of 20:07.3 to finish in 18th overall, while senior Rebekka Russell (Great Falls, Mont.) finished in a career-best time of 20:13.2 in 21st place.
Corban returns to action next at the Beaver Classic this next Friday, October 23, down in Corvallis. The Warriors then will prepare for the CCC Championships, set to take place on campus at Corban on November 7.