The Logger cross country athletes had a great showing at their pre-season meet on September 5 in Walla Walla, Washington. The athletes ran an impressive 2 kilometers longer than their normal distances. Seniors Hayley Walker (Cambria, Calif.) and Marnie Hazelhurst (Portland, Ore.) led the women’s side with sixth and ninth place finishes in their 4K run. On the men’s side, freshmen Wes Finger (Deming, Wash.) and Robert Harkins (Eureka, Calif.) finished in 13th and 14th place running the 6K.
When asked if he thinks his team can improve upon their times for the next meet, head coach Mike Orechia said, “Because both genders are running 2K longer than last time there is no comparison. We have never run 4K/6K races prior to this year so we have no data to make a comparison. For those who ran this race last year we look for improved times from last year.”
On Sept. 17, the Loggers participated in the Sundodger Cross Country Invitational in Seattle. This marked their first official meet of the season.
According to Coach Orechia, “We consider this our first meet of the season. Both men and women will be running their championship distance for each race. We are looking for a strong competitive effort.”
Both men’s and women’s cross country teams had a great showing, setting four personal bests on Saturday. Hazelhurst again led the women’s side with an impressive 23:28.23, which puts her time at 17th on the Loggers’ all-time list. Hazelhurst ended up placing 48th in the race with sophomore Carrie Keith (Erie, Colo.) behind her in 66th place.
Sophomore Teva Vollmer (Centennial, Colo.), who set a personal best of 25:36.76, said, “It went pretty good. It was a learning experience, but we did a pretty good job at competing.”
The Logger men also had two personal bests on their team with junior Robbie Brewer (Winnetka, Ill.) finishing 27:46.85 and sophomore Tony Charvoz, (Sandpoint, Idaho) finishing 28:23.00. However, the men’s side of this race seemed to be dominated by newcomers. Freshman Robert Harkins had an impressive first meet of his college career; he was the first man across the finish line for the Loggers, finishing in 25th place with a time of 25:54.30. Next in line to finish was another freshman, Wes Finger, who placed 70th with a time of 26:59.63.
The next competition for the men’s and women’s cross country teams will be in two weeks in Salem, Ore., for the Chuck Bowles Invitational.