Monmouth, Ore. - Picking up right where she left off from the track & field season, Senior Anika Rasubala had a huge race for the Beacon women’s cross country team on Friday night, taking fifth-place at the Ash Creek Invitational.
Rasubala ran a 15:13.6 in the 4000m race and was the top finisher not wearing the familiar green and yellow of NCAA Division I No. 9 Oregon. In fact, she broke up the Ducks perfect score as the four top finishers and the next three behind her were all from NCU’s neighbor.
As a team, the Beacons took seventh-place in the twelve-team field and were the top team from the Cascade Conference, defeating Corban.
NCU’s next four runners were tightly packed together with freshman Rebecca Kuskie taking 45th (17:03.1), Tea Chatelain grabbing 46th (17:04.0) and Isabell Weber right behind in 48th (17:07.4).
Also running for the Beacons were Madeleine Rosebrook (54th), Aneykah McCall (70th), Victoria Messer (71st), Macy Rabourn (81st), Jasmine Lay (88th), and Hannah Hull (102nd).
On the men's side, the Beacons eased into the 2019 season on Friday, competing in the 6000m Ash Creek Invitational, hosted by Western Oregon University.
The Beacons took seventh place in the race and were led by Jacob Truitt who took 21st place out of 107 runners. He ran a 19:18.6 and was followed by Carson Bain in 30th (19:43.6).
Andy Martinez was next across in 38th place (19:57.7) followed by Jacob Lacey in 54th (20:37.2), Connor Woodcock in 82nd (22:08.6), and Kilano Loyd in 90th (22:38.9).
Amongst teams from the Cascade Collegiate Conference, NCU finished behind Corban in fifth place but ahead of Walla Walla in ninth.
NCU is the designated host for the CCC Championships this season and will host a preview meet on September 20th. This will be the next time the Beacons will be in action.