SALEM, Ore. – The Eastern Oregon University cross country team continued its preparation for the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Championships, as the men and women took 11th and ninth place, respectively, at the 41st Annual Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational.
"As with all the meets so far, there were some very good things today," said head cross country coach Ben Welch. "Overall, the freshmen, both the men and women, ran very well."
Results
Women's Race
It was a record-setting day for a pair of newcomers on the women's squad, as Amanda Welch (No. 15) and Stormy Bullard (No. 21) raced their way into the EOU freshman top-25 all-time list for female runners.
A hometown runner out of La Grande, Welch paced the women's team with a 42nd-place finish overall with a time of 19:13.2. For Welch, it was the second-consecutive meet in which she directed the squad's effort.
Just over 16 ticks later, Bullard (19:29.6) crossed the finish line to take 47th place out of 158 competitors.
The Navy and Gold tallied 264 points to finish in ninth place out of 19 teams in the 5K race.
Senior Kailey Wilson (20.09.0) notched 72nd place, while sophomore McKenzie Evans (20:25.9 - 80th place) and freshman Brianna Mees (20:30.4 - 84th place) concluded the top 100 for EOU.
Men's Race
For the second time this season, senior Kody Shriver (26:12.5) paced the men's squad, as he earned 53rd place out of 200 runners in the 8K race.
As a team, the Mountaineers mustered 269 points to card an 11th-place finish out of 18 squads.
A pair of newcomers in Jack Howard and Lane Inwards didn't finish too far behind Shriver and continued to show signs of promise for the young men's team that includes five freshmen. While Howard (26:16.3) carded a 57th-place finish, Inwards (26:31.6) earned 67th place for the Navy and Gold.
Meanwhile, junior Dylan Hartley (26:53.9 - 82nd place) and sophomore Evan Rummerfield (27:08.3 - 93rd place) rounded out EOU's representation in the top 100.
Next Meet
The Navy and Gold returns to the course on Oct. 17 for the Lewis-Clark State Inland Empire Challenge in Lewiston, Idaho.