SALEM, Ore. - Mountaineers Cross Country put in another solid outing on the race course Saturday afternoon as the team posted a pair of top-five finishes at the 46th Charles Bowles Invite. The Mountaineer men finished fourth with 82 points, while the women placed fifth with 118 points.
Continuing what has been a solid campaign in 2021 is the efforts of
Travis Running who earned his third straight top-five individual finish. He placed fourth in the men's 8K race in a time of 24:55 flat to lead the Eastern men.
On the women's side, the return of
Michelle Herbes was seen right away. The senior had missed the first two meets of the season, but made an immediate impact on Saturday with a top-15 finish. She placed 12th for the 5K race with a time of 19:21.2.
In the men's race, the Mounties finished behind three ranked opponents, all of which come from the Cascade Collegiate Conference. Winning the men's race as a team was No. 19 Oregon Tech with 54 points, followed by No. 5 Lewis-Clark State College with 63 points. Ninth-ranked Southern Oregon was third with 74 points, holding off the Mountaineers by eight points.
Coming in behind Running was true freshman
Cristian Mendoza who has now been the No. 2 runner for the Mountaineers in each of the last two races. He crossed the finish line in a time of 25:17.2 to finish just outside the top-10 at 11th.
Hunter Nichols was the third EOU distance harrier to come in but was 14 spots back from Mendoza in 25th. He cleared the 8K course in a time of 25:57.3. In that 14-spot difference, SOU had runners 2-4 come in to score which helped them secure the finish ahead of Eastern.
The fourth EOU runner to cross the finish line was
Benjen Lilly who placed two spots back of Nichols in 27th. He ran a time of 25:58.2 to place in the top-30.
Justin Ash was the fifth and final scored runner to come in for the Mounties placing 34th with a time of 26:04.3.
In the women's race, Southern Oregon took home the team title with 30 points and was 47 points ahead of second place LC State who tallied 77 points. University of Oregon Running Club was third with 78 points, followed by Oregon Tech with 98 points.
Sophomore
Jaimee Baxter was once again the second runner in for the Mountaineers as she placed 23rd for the 5K race. She posted a time of 20:06.1 to finish just inside the top-25.
Runners three and four finished back-to-back for the Mountaineers in
Kendra Blake and
Katie Jo Gebhardt. Blake was 27th with a time of 20:19.5, followed by Gebhardt in 28th with a time of 20:23.1.
Rounding out the top-five scoring for the Mountaineer women was the work of true freshman
Emma Hollon who placed 31st. She posted a time of 20:36.8 was just five seconds from finishing in the top-30.
The Mountaineers will have another two-week break before running in what will be their final meet of the regular season. Eastern will compete at the LC State Warrior Invitational on Oct. 16 to close out the regular season.
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