EUGENE, Ore. Sophomore Rebecca Kuskie and senior Jacob Truiit led the Beacons women's and men's cross country teams on Friday at the Lane Community College Invitational, taking place on the LCC campus.
Kuskie came in at 19 minutes, 59.9 seconds on the soggy course to take seventh and was followed closely by senior Tea Chatelain in eighth place (20:01.9). Chatelain had been sitting firmly in second-place when a painful side cramp crept up on her with less than a mile to go. Head Coach Tom Boldon said, "Tea looked very strong today and we know she is still one of the strongest runners in our conference.
Bushnell took third-place in the race, with Aneykah McCall (19th, 21:36.9), Kaitlin Cook (21st, 21:42.4) and Victoria Messer (23rd, 22:30.01) rounding out the scoring.
Also running for the Beacons were Kennedy Larson (24th, 22:55.6), Jordyn Edewards (26th, 23:53.3) and Skye Urban (27th, 23:53.8). Larson’s run was a lifetime PR, returning after being sidelined for the past few weeks. "Kennedy was a big surprise after being in a boot for a month," said Boldon.
Oregon Tech, currently ranked No. 12 in the NAIA national coaches poll, won the race as they swept the top three spots and scored 21 points. Lane took second (42) followed by the Beacons (63).
Truitt took 21st place, dropping off after a fast start due to an unexpected side cramp. He finished in 28:24.4 and was closely followed by Jacob Lackey in 22nd (28:36.60) and Gabe Fatooh in 23rd (28:37.0).
Christopher Rosebrook (25th, 29:09.1) and Carson Bain (29th, 31:34.1) rounded out the scoring for the Beacons, who took fourth-place with a score of 97. Oregon won the race with 24 points, followed by Oregon Tech in second (38) and Lane in third (72).
Also running for the Beacons were Jarrett Schultz in 30th (33:07.8) and Kilano Loyd in 31st (39:11.0).
Currently, the schedule calls for the Beacons to return to action at the CCC championships on March 26, but other races are also currently under consideration.
"We now have five weeks until the conference championships," said Boldon, "and we know we have a bit of work to do to be ready."