Sept. 28, 2009

Spokane Valley, Wash. - The Washington State men's cross country team had two runners finish in the top 25 on a soft and forgiving course at Saturday's Runners Soul/Erik Anderson Invite in Spokane, Wash.

True freshman Andrew Gonzales (Kennewick), running unattached, finished third in the 8000m race in a time of 26 minutes, 6.6 seconds while junior Luke Lemenager (Maple Valley) finished 24th with a time of 27:31.5. Redshirt freshman Drake da Ponte (Snoqualmie) covered the course in 29:05.0 to place 61st and Jason Stoker (Liberty Lake), also a redshirt freshman, placed 65th with a time of 19:13.7.

Lewis-Clark State won the seven team men's event with 25 points and had the top runner when Dave Marks finished the race with a time of 25:53.7.

Gonzaga was the top squad among the eight women's teams with 54 points and Whitworth's Dana Misterek finished in first place with a time of 19:04.5

The Cougar cross country teams next competition is Oct. 17 at the Pre-National Meet at Terre Haute, Ind.

Men's Results
Runners Soul/Erik Anderson Invite (Plantes Ferry Complex, Spokane Valley, Wash. 8,000m)
September 26, 2009
Men's Team Results: 1. Lewis-Clark State 25, 2. Gonzaga 58, 3. Whitworth 71, 4. Spokane CC 113, 5. Great Falls 122, 6. Whitman 155, 7. Club Sasquatch 171.
Top Five Individuals: 1. Dave Marks (Lewis-Clark) 25:53.7; 2. Chad Portword (Unat) 26:00.5; 3. Andrew Gonzales (Unat) 26:06.6; 4. Jake Miller (Lewis-Clark) 26:10.4; 5. Anthony Brown (Spokane CC) 26:15.1.
WSU Results: 3. Andrew Gonzales (Unat) 26:06; 24. Luke Lemenager 27:31; 61. Drake da Ponte 29:05; 65. Jason Stoker 29:13.