CORVALLIS, Ore. – After taking first place at the Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational, the Eastern Oregon University Men’s and College of Idaho Women’s Cross Country teams were named the Co-Under Armour Teams of the Week for Sept. 25 – Oct. 1, the Cascade Collegiate Conference announced Sunday.
Eastern Oregon began its season ranked 2nd in CCC Preseason Poll and is currently ranked No. 8 in the NAIA Coaches Rating. On Saturday, they competed against NAIA and NCAA institutions, totaling 24 other teams and 244 runners. The top three finishers included Justin Ash, finishing 9th overall with a time of 24:38. Following him was Hunter Nichols, clocking in a time of 24:57, finishing 15th. Cristian Mendoza was close behind, grabbing 17th at 24:59 in the 8k. This was the Mounties' first victory at the Willamette Invitational, they have gone for 48 years.
College of Idaho began its season ranked 1st in the CCC Preseason Poll and is currently ranked No. 3 in the NAIA Coaches Rating. On Saturday, they competed against NAIA and NCAA institutions, totaling 23 other teams and 222 runners. The Yotes landed four runners in the top 12, including a first-place finish by Sage Martin (17:17.9) and a runner-up performance by Abbey Shirts (17:20.2) to lead the team to victory. Ellyse Tingelstad (17:26.3) and Kahea Figueira (17:55.1) were the 4th and 12th collegiate runners to cross the finish line in the 5k.
Up next, both teams will race again on Saturday, October 14th.