Cross Country Crosses Cascades for Sundodger

The Washington State men's and women's cross country teams will trek across the Cascades to compete in the University of Washington 24th Annual Sundodger Invitational Saturday, Sept. 19, at Lincoln Park in Seattle...the women's 6,000m race begins at 11 a.m. and the men's 8,000m race follows at 11:35 a.m...the course start and finish is on grass playing field with a mixture of grass, dirt, light gravel, and bark chips on the course...open races and high school races will take place before and after the invitational races...results will be available at wsucougars.com, when available postrace.

Wayne Phipps (University of British Columbia '91) become the 15th coach to take the reins of the Washington State men's program and the second coach for the combined men's and women's program at WSU on July 1, 2014...Phipps had been the University of Idaho's Director and Track & Field/Cross Country from 2010 through 2014, and was a coach with the Vandals program for a total of 19 years...he served as co-head coach from 2000-09, after serving as an assistant coach from 1995-99... while at Idaho, Phipps was honored 14 times as a conference coach of the year and led the Vandals to a record 16 total conference titles.

Allix Potratz-Lee joined the WSU track and field coaching staff in July 2014 after an outstanding career as a student-athlete and coach at the University of Idaho... member of the Idaho cross country/track and field coaching staff starting in 2010 as an assistant to Wayne Phipps, working primarily with the distance corps...Vandals' women's cross country team won WAC team titles in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.. she was a five-time WAC champion, a 10-time first-team all-WAC honoree and a two-time ESPN/CoSIDA Academic All-American...she helped Idaho cross country capture the 2005 and 2007 XC team titles,and claimed the 2008 individual WAC cross country crown.

LAST YEAR AT THE SUNDODGER INVITATIONAL
The Cougar men won the men's team title, upsetting No. 27 UW...Rs-senior Drew Jordan was runner-up (24:03)... WSU scorers: John Whelan, fourth (24:08), Sam Levora, fifth (24:21), Richard Shroy, sixth (24:21), and Lee George, seventh (24:21)...other WSU men and their places included Forrest Shaffer (9th, 24:27), Jackson Haselnus (14th, 24:52), Conner Johnsen (15th, 24:54), Michael Williams (17th, 25:06), Peter Helman (35th, 26:12), and Alex Simpson (40th, 26:31)... senior Abby Regan finished third in the women's race (20:34)...WSU scorers: Morgan Willson (12th, 21:24), CharLee Linton (14th, 21:32), Devon Bortfeld (18th, 21:46), Emily Dwyer (19th, 21:50), Ashlie Standow ( 25th, 22:27), and Abby Knight (28th, 22:42)...other WSU women: Stefie Pavey (29th, 22:52). Amanda Henderson (31st, 23:00), Alexys Garcia (34th, 23:23), Kiah Condos (38th, 23:47), Mallori Lindberg (39th, 23:50), Ramona Morshead (49th, 25:19), and Hailey Gibson (51st, 25:41).

COUGARS SLATED TO COMPETE AT THE SUNDODGER INVITE
MEN
Jake Finney, freshman
Sam Levora, sophomore
Kyler Little, freshman
Reid Muller, freshman
Paul Ryan, freshman
Alex Simpson, junior
Nathan Tadesse, freshman
Chandle Teigen, freshman
Nathan Wadhwani, freshman
John Whelan, junior
Michael Williams, sophomore

WOMEN
Natalie Ackerley, freshman
Anisa Allaet, freshman
Betsy Arlt, freshman
Devon Bortfeld, sophomore
Katherine Dittman, freshman
Emily Dwyer, senior
Alexys Garcia, junior
Amanda Henderson, junior
Mallori Lindberg, sophomore
CharLee Linton, senior
Steffie Pavey, junior
Grace Victor, freshman
Morgan Willson, junior

ABOUT THE 2015 COUGAR MEN

Jake Finney (Fr., Post Falls, Idaho) - Finished 17th overall at Clash of Inland NW 6k in time of 18:33.1.

Jackson Haselnus (Jr.-Rs, Gresham, Ore.) - Taking a redshirt season...ran unattached at Clash of Inland NW finishing 48th in 6k with time of 19:43.0.

Conner Johnsen (Jr.-Rs, Bellingham, Wash.) - Taking a redshirt season...ran unattached at the Clash of Inland NW and finished 6k in 19:26.8 for 41st.

Sam Levora (So., Sandpoint, Idaho) - Fifth Cougar and 15th overall finisher at Clash of Inland NW 6k in time of 18:29.6.

Kyler Little (Fr., Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) - Finished 23rd overall at Clash of Inland NW 6k in time of 18:44.9.

Reid Muller (Fr., Pitt Meadows, B.C., Canada) - Placed 32nd overall at Clash of Inland NW 6k in time of 19:08.4.

Paul Ryan (Fr., Moscow, Idaho) - Finished 31st overall at the Clash of Inland NW 6k in time of 19:04.4.

Alex Simpson (Jr., Asotin, Wash.) - Finished 71st overall at Clash of Inland NW meet with 6k time of 20:56.7.

Nathan Tadesse (Fr., Surrey, B.C., Canada) - Took 19th overall at Clash of Inland NW 6k in time of 18:36.1.

Chandler Teigen (Fr., Anatone, Wash.) - Fourth from team and 12th overall at Clash of Inland NW 6k in time of 18:18.7.

Nathan Wadhwani (Fr., Maple Ridge, B.C., Canada) - At Clash of Inland NW was second Cougar and seventh place with 6k time of 18:07.2.

John Whelan (Jr., Etna, Calif.) - “Grand daddy” on the team as junior...top Cougar finisher at the Clash of Inland NW 6k with third place time of 17:47.4.

Michael Williams (So., Richland, Wash.) - Third Cougar and 11th overall at Clash of the Inland NW meet with 6k time of 18:14.0

ABOUT THE 2015 COUGAR WOMEN

Natalie Ackerley (Fr., Bainbridge, Wash.) - Clash of Inland NW meet had 50th finish, ran 4k in time of 15:49.6.

Anisa Allaet (Fr., Spokane, Wash.) - Finished 24th overall at Clash of Inland NW 4k in time of 14:57.8.

Betsy Arlt (Fr., Wenatchee, Wash.) - Finished 45th at the Clash of Inland NW 4k in time of 15:34.7.

Devon Bortfeld (So., Sammamish, Wash.) - Placed fourth overall at Clash of Inland NW 4k meet in time of 13:56.1.

Josie Brown (Fr., Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) - Yet to compete.

Katherine Dittman (Fr., Snohomish, Wash.) - Finished 27th at Clash of Inland NW 4k in time of 15:00.8.

Emily Dwyer (Sr., Sammamish, Wash.) - Third Cougar and 9th overall at Clash of Inland NW 4k in time of 14:10.0.

Alexys Garcia (Jr., Pullman, Wash.) - Took 23rd place at Clash of Inland NW, running 4k in time of 14:57.5.

Amanda Henderson (Sr., Pullman, Wash.) - Finished 55th at Clash of the Inland NW 4k in time of 16:04.9.

Mallori Lindberg (So., Woodinville, Wash.) - Finished 42nd at Clash of Inland NW 4k in time of 15:26.4.

CharLee Linton (Sr., Shoreline, Wash.) - First Cougar and third place overall at the Clash of Inland NW 4k in time of 13:48.6.

Tracy Myers (Fr., Beamsville, Ontario, Canada) - Yet to compete.

Steffie Pavey (Jr., Oldtown, Idaho) - Fifth Cougar, 17th overall at Clash of Inland NW 4k in time of 14:40.1.

Ashlie Standow (Jr., Spokane Valley, Wash.) - Yet to compete.

Grace Victor (Fr., Wakerley, Australia) - Running unattached, finished 44the at Clash of Inland NW with 4k time of 15:31.0.

Morgan Willson (Jr., Colfax, Wash.) - Fourth Cougar to finish at Clash of Inland NW, 11th overall on 4k course in time of 14:19.2.

Breya Wynne (Fr., Compton, Calif.) - Finished 77th at Clash of Inland NW 4k with time of 18:56.5.