Washington State University Athletics
WSU Men Repeat as Sundodger Invite XC Champions
September 19, 2015 | Cross Country
SEATTLE -- Sophomore Michael Williams led the Cougar men to the team title with his runner-up finish Saturday morning at the Sundodger Invitational Cross Country meet at Lincoln Park in Seattle. This was the second consecutive year the Cougars have upset the nationally-ranked Huskies at this meet.
Men's team scores were: Washington State 24, No. 21 Washington 34, Seattle U 113, Tulane 128, and Portland State 151.
Williams, from Richland, Wash., ran the 8,000m course is a time of 24 minutes 8.59 seconds, behind Washington's Izaic Yorks winning time of 24:05.39. Junior John Whelan (Etna, Calif.) finished fourth in a time of 24:14.25 with Nathan Wadhwani (freshman, Maple Ridge, B.C.) in fifth place in a time of 24:21.29. Completing the WSU scorers were Sam Levora (sophomore, Sandpoint, Idaho) who finished seventh in a time of 24:26.58, and Chandler Teigen (freshman, Anatone, Wash.) in eighth place in 24:28.69.
Other Cougar men racing in Seattle and their finishes: Nathan Tadesse (freshman, Surrey, B.C.) 12th (24:36.16), Paul Ryan (freshman, Moscow, Idaho) 17th (25:04.16), Jake Finney (freshman, Post Falls, Idaho) 24th (25:26.73), Kyler Little (freshman, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 32nd (25:41.37), Reid Muller (freshman, Pitt Meadows, B.C.) 36th (25:58.28), and Alex Simpson (junior, Asotin, Wash.) 41st (26:06.51).
A couple of Cougar alums racing included Andrew Kimpel (unattached) who finished sixth (24:25.27) and Drew Polley (Club Northwest) who finished 15th (24:46.19).
CharLee Linton, a senior from Shoreline, Wash., was the top Cougar woman to finish with eighth place in the women's 6000m race in a time of 20:55.61. Devon Bortfeld, a sophomore from Sammamish, Wash., finished 15th in a time of 21:19.83. The remaining WSU women who finished in scoring positions included: Morgan Willson (junior, Colfax, Wash.) 20th (21:33.73), and Emily Dwyer (senior, Sammamish, Wash.) 33rd (22:11.85).
Other Cougars competing and their finishes are: Katherine Dittmann (freshman, Snohomish, Wash.) 42nd (22:24.71), Anisa Allaet (freshman, Spokane, Wash.) 52nd (22:45.02), Alexys Garcia (junior, Pullman) 54th (22:49.03), Mallori Lindberg (sophomore, Woodinville, Wash.) 61st (23:04.77), Steffie Pavey (junior, Oldtown, Idaho) 62nd (23:08.21), Amanda Henderson (senior, Pullman) 65th (23:13.87), Betsy Arlt (freshman, Wenatchee, Wash.) 72nd (23:40.51), and Natalie Ackerley (freshman, Bainbridge, Wash.) 86th (25:14.33).
Sarah Inglis of Trinity Western won the women's invitational title with a time of 20:22.84 and Washington's Maddie Meyers (20:31.79) led four Huskies to second through fifth places. Former Cougar volunteer assistant coach Emma Kertesz (Club Northwest) finished ninth (21:02.63).
The women's team scores were: No. 14 Washington 17, Washington State 88, Nevada 93, Portland State 130, Oregon State 141, Seattle U 156, Fresno State 163, Tulane 171, and Hawai'i 195.
”Both teams executed the race plans quite well. Tempo effort through the first part and then start racing only in the last 2,000 meters,” WSU Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Wayne Phipps said. “CharLee and Devon had fantastic races and ran 30 seconds faster than last year with a much more controlled effort. I'm excited to see what this (women's) team can do once we race our full team. The men ran really well as a team: very controlled and relaxed through 6,000 meters and racing only the last part. It was a lot more controlled effort than last year and impressive considering the volume of work they put in this week.”
The next race for the Cougar harriers will be October 3 at the Washington Invitational at Jefferson Park Golf Course in Seattle, the site of the NCAA West Regional meets, Nov. 13.
Players Mentioned
