There was no shortage of excitement at the Northwest Conference Cross Country Championships this past Saturday in Lakewood, WA. The Logger men and women have run hard all season in anticipation for this race, which marked the beginning of the postseason for all runners in the conference. Puget Sound did not dominate the race in the team standings but had several competitors post impressive times.
The men finished in 8th place overall in the race. Robin Harkins led the way for the team with an 11th place finish after posting a time of 26:03.71. Harkins’ solid finish earned him a spot on the NWC All-Conference team as a 2nd team selection. Wes Finger was the next Logger in behind Harkins, finishing in 31st with a time of 27:04.81. Finger was followed in by Robbie Snowden, Matt Kline and Casey Wall, respectively, to round out the scoring for the Loggers.
Whitworth University put five runners in the top 20 spots to edge out the defending NWC champions Willamette. Leo Castillio of Willamette took home first place honors in the individual standings after recording a time of 25:19. Castillo finished second in last year’s NWC Championship meet. His teammate Stefan Redfield took second with a time of 25:25. The Pirates of Whitworth finished only 3 points ahead of Willamette with a score of 33 for the title. Puget Sound recorded 202 points in the meet in their 8th place finish, as the lowest score wins in cross country meets.
The Puget Sound women finished 7th overall in the race. Marnie Hazelhurst finished in 17th with a quick time of 23:42.96. Kathryn Flute came in next for the Loggers in 26th place. Her time of 24:00.24 was a new personal best for Flute and put her on the top 25 all-time list.
Cara Gillespie finished third for the Loggers in 48th place after posting a time of 24:58.10.
Lewis and Clark ran away with the women’s race, posting only 43 points while the second place team, Whitworth, posted 73. Lewis and Clark had a strikingly low spread between the finishes of their scoring runners. The Pioneer’s top runner finished in fourth place while their last scoring runner finished in only 21st. The Puget Sound women posted 194 points on their way to 7th place. The 194 points were enough to top both Pacific and George Fox, respectively.
The NCAA West Regionals, hosted by Willamette on Nov. 13, will be the next time NWC cross country is in action.